Modern day New Zealand is made up of a variety of ethnicities and there is no one ethnicity that can be called the New Zealand people. However, the two largest groups in the population are the New Zealand Europeans (or Pakeha as they are called in the Maori language) and the Maori.
The exact dates, origins and methods by which the Maori came to New Zealand are debated among historians worldwide. According to Maori oral tradition, their homeland is called Hawaiki and is believed to be somewhere in the area of the southern Cook Islands. The approximate date which the Maori are believed to have first come to with New Zealand is 800 AD. The major settling of the country did not begin for another 500 years.
The first European to officially see New Zealand was the Dutch sailor, Abel Janszoon Tasman. He was unfortunately unable to explore the new found country due to Maori war parties preventing him from landing. Captain James Cook was the first European to circumnavigate and chart New Zealand in 1769. He also encountered some violence from the Maori tribes, but was more prepared for this than Tasman.
This marked the start of European immigration to New Zealand.
