Blog 6: How genetic research sheds light on the ancestral origins of Māori in New Zealand

JOURNEY 1 - SERIES 5 - BLOG 6 - A PART OF 9 BLOGS IN SERIES 5 - Reading time: 3 Mins 30 Secs

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When the first Europeans arrived in New Zealand, they referred to the existing inhabitants as “New Zealanders.” As more Europeans settled in the country, confusion arose over how to distinguish between the original European arrivals and the prior settled population. To resolve this, the newcomers began calling the prior settled people “Maoris,” while referring to themselves as “Pakeha”.  This discussion adds another dimension to New Zealand’s origin story. These migration patterns contribute to broader debates surrounding Southeast Asian migration to New Zealand and are frequently compared with established interpretations of Polynesian migration to New Zealand. Together, these competing perspectives continue to shape ongoing discussions about New Zealand’s first settlers.

Today, Māori whānau reflect a wide range of appearances—skin tones, hair types and colours, and facial features can vary a lot from person to person and from iwi to iwi. That diversity is completely normal in any population, and in New Zealand it also reflects generations of movement, marriage, and shared ancestry across communities.

Paul Tito (Māori rugby player)

Many New Zealanders have some Māori whakapapa, and in official counts and everyday life people usually identify in ways that make sense for them and their whānau. Genetics doesn’t define someone’s identity—but it can help researchers understand long‑term patterns of ancestry and migration.

Two of the most useful DNA “family lines” for this kind of research are:

• Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): passed from mothers to all their children. It’s a handy way to trace maternal lines back through time.

• Y chromosome DNA: passed from fathers to sons. It helps trace paternal lines.

Mitochondrial and Y chromosome inheritance

Mitochondrial and Y chromosome inheritance (the basic idea)

One often‑cited study looked at Y‑chromosome markers in a sample of Māori men, and mtDNA patterns in Māori, to see what those two family lines suggest about deeper ancestry (Underhill et al., 2001). Underhill P.A. et al. Maori Origins, Y-Chromosome Haplotypes and Implications for Human History in the Pacific, Human Mutation 17:271-280 (2001).  

The findings expressed in everyday language:

What the Y chromosome suggested (father‑to‑son lines)

• In that sample, roughly four in ten Y‑chromosome lineages matched lineages common in Europe—consistent with more recent European ancestry through male lines.

• Another large share (also about four in ten) matched a lineage also seen in places like Indonesia and New Guinea, pointing to connections with Indigenous populations in the wider western Pacific (often described in the genetics literature as “Melanesian”).

What mtDNA suggested (mother‑to‑child lines)

• Most mtDNA in the study showed the same well‑known Southeast Asian signature (including the commonly reported “9‑base‑pair deletion”), which is often linked with the Austronesian expansion into the Pacific.

• A smaller proportion of mtDNA lineages reflected more recent European maternal ancestry—consistent with intermarriage after European settlement.

• Overall, the mtDNA pattern looked more “single‑threaded” than the Y‑chromosome pattern—suggesting different histories for maternal and paternal lines.

What this might mean for migration into the Pacific

• Because the Y‑chromosome lineages were more varied, the authors argued that the settlement story includes multiple points of contact and mixing—especially involving Island Southeast Asia and New Guinea.

• By contrast, the mtDNA result fits the long‑standing idea of a comparatively fast spread of Austronesian‑speaking peoples, where one maternal lineage became very common across the Pacific.

In short: this 2001 genetic snapshot suggested that Māori maternal lines (mtDNA) were dominated by a well‑known Southeast Asian signature, while Māori paternal lines (Y chromosome) showed a more mixed picture—including both western Pacific lineages and more recent European lineages. A key takeaway is that men and women can have different “genetic histories” in the same population, because migration and intermarriage do not affect all family lines equally.

Put together, results like these support a broad story in which the ancestors of Māori—moved through Island Southeast Asia and into the Pacific, with periods of contact and mixing along the way. The European lineages identified in the Y‑chromosome data are best explained by intermarriage over the last few centuries, after Europeans arrived in New Zealand.

One simple message: genetics backs up what many other fields also suggest—Māori origins sit within a wider Pacific migration story, and later history (including migration and intermarriage) has added additional strands to some family lines.

To continue reading Series 5 we invite you to join us:

Blog 7: What are the connections between Māori and Southeast Asian languages?