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Story: Tapa whenua – naming places

The naming of Hawaiki

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The naming of Hawaiki

This map shows how the name Hawaiki was taken through Polynesia. To Māori, Hawaiki is the ancestral homeland, but to the voyagers it referred not to a specific island, but the island previously visited – its original meaning was ‘the previous homeland’.

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How to cite this page

Rāwiri Taonui, Tapa whenua – naming places – Names from Polynesian mythology, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/18642/the-naming-of-hawaiki (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Rāwiri Taonui, published 1 March 2009.