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Story: Soil investigation

Māori soil names

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Māori soil names

Elsdon Best recorded all the known Māori terms for soil types in his book Maori agriculture (1925). Many distinct soil types were known, especially those that were good for growing kūmara (sweet potato).

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Elsdon Best, Maori Agriculture: the cultivated food plants of the natives of New Zealand, with some account of native methods of agriculture, its ritual and origin myths. Wellington: Dominion Museum, 1925

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How to cite this page

P. J. Tonkin, Soil investigation – First observations, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/14180/maori-soil-names (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by P. J. Tonkin, published 1 March 2009.