A member of the aboriginal people of New Zealand. Having arrived there first as part of a wave of migration from Tahiti, probably in the 9th century, by 1200 they had established settlements in various parts of the islands. The Maoris ceded all their rights and powers of sovereignty to the British Crown in 1840 with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori Wars were fought intermittently in 1845–48 and 1860–72 between Maoris and the colonial government of New Zealand over the enforced sale of Maori lands to Europeans. In 1994 and 1995 the New Zealand government agreed to pay compensation to two tribal groups whose land had been seized illegally by settlers and to return traditional Maori lands in the government’s possession. Many more Maori claims to land are under consideration. In 2001 about 600,000 New Zealanders were Maori or had Maori ancestry.