Aotearoa, Māori Land

Aotearoa (New Zealand), one of the last major landmasses settled by humans, was reached by Polynesian voyagers around the 13th–14th century. According to tradition, they arrived by waka (ocean-going canoe) from the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki. Adapting to a temperate climate, they hunted fur seals and flightless birds such as the moa, which was driven to extinction within a few generations. The warmer North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) was more densely populated than the South Island (Te Waka-a-Māui). By the 18th century, Māori society was organised into iwi (tribes) and hapū (subtribes), often rival, fortified in pā and engaged in ritualised warfare.

Map contents (53)

Dense Māori settlement (18th century) · Early settlement around 1320-1350 · Distribution of pā (fortified sites) · Major trading site · Seal hunting area · Main iwi (Māori tribe) · Moa hunting area · Māori settlement · Early settlement · Major trading sites · Pā (fortified sites) · Iwi (tribes) · Island names · Moa hunting places · Rēkohu · Te Punga a Māui · Kaiapoi · Waimea · Whanganui · Pātea · Ngāmotu · Kāwhia · Maketū · Ngāi Tahu · Ngāti Māmoe · Poutini · Ngāti Apa · Rangitāne · Ngāti Kahungunu · Rongowhakaata · Moriori · Te Aupōuri · Te Rarawa · Ngāpuhi · Te Whānau-ā-Apanui · Te Whakatōhea · Ngāti Porou · Ngāti Pāoa · Taranaki · Waikato · Muaūpoko · Ngāti Tūwharetoa · Ngāti Whātua · Ngāti Maru · Ngāti Toa · Ngāti Mutunga · Ngāti Ira · Te Arawa · Ngāti Awa / Tūhoe · Ngāti Tamaterā · Te Āti Awa · Te Waka a Māui · Te Ika a Māui