Pākehā Māori is a term used to describe early European settlers in New Zealand (known as Pākehā in the Māori language) who lived among the Māori. Some were kept by the Māori as slaves, while others settled in Māori communities by choice, many being runaway seamen or escaped convicts. Some lived the rest of their lives amongst Māori but others, such as lapsed missionary Thomas Kendall, found it convenient to briefly "go native." They were often welcomed, took wives and were treated as Māori, particularly in the first two decades of the 19th century. The rarity value of Europeans in New Zealand and the importance of trade in Western goods - particularly muskets - made Pākehā Māori highly prized for their trading skills. Some achieved a degree of prestige among the Māori and fought in battle with their adopted tribe in the New Zealand land wars, sometimes against European soldiers. A few Pākehā Māori such as John Rutherford and Barnet Burns even received the moko or facial tattoo.
However as more Europeans arrived, the status of early Europeans among Māori fell and some of the early Pakeha Maori reverted to a more European existence. By the end of the New Zealand land wars in the mid-1860s, European government was effectively extended over the entire country, and Māori culture declined as the vast majority of Maori chose or were cajoled into adopting English language and a greater degree of Western culture.
The early settler Frederick Edward Maning published two books under the pseudonym Pakeha Māori which contain many examples of how Pakeha/Maori lived.