The Origins and History of Karamus

Karamus is a spring harvest festival that has been celebrated in New Zealand for over 150 years. Though the specifics of the celebration have changed over time, Karamus has remained an important cultural event for the Māori people and helped maintain connections to traditional harvest rituals.

The origins of Karamus can be traced back to the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. “Karamu” comes from the Māori word meaning “feast” or “festival.” In the mid-19th century, Ngāti Kahungunu would hold large feasts after seasonal food harvests, like berries, birds, fish, and vegetables. These celebrations brought together various hapū (subtribes) and iwi (tribes) to share food, dance, sing songs, and participate in cultural rituals.

Christian missionaries began living among Māori tribes in the 1830s-40s and attended many of these traditional feasts. In the 1860s, after years of lobbying by missionaries, the autonomous Māori leader of Ngāti Kahungunu designated Good Friday as an annual day of feast and remembrance of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. This event, held in the Hawke's Bay village of Waipatu, is considered the first organized Karamu.

Over the next few decades, Karamus spread to other North Island tribes and villages and slowly transformed into larger Christianized festivities that still incorporated longstanding harvest traditions. By the early 1900s, the celebrations lasted multiple days and included church services, traditional chants/dances like the haka, sports matches, and the honoring of esteemed elders.

Today, Karamus is held across New Zealand each year in March or April. The events retain the Christian influence from over a century ago but also strongly emphasize Māori culture. Traditional foods like hangi (food cooked underground) are served and each Karamu has its own unique rituals passed down by local iwi elders. After years of decline, Karamus has regained popularity among young Māori as a celebration of indigenous identity. Though the form has changed over 150 years, Karamus remains an important cultural tradition connecting New Zealanders to history and ancestral roots.

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