Moriori
/ˌmɔːriˈɔːri/noun
A Polynesian Indigenous people of Rēkohu, also known as the Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand.
Did you know?The enduring myth that Māori invaders completely exterminated the Moriori was used to justify colonial dispossession, despite surviving Moriori communities and historical evidence disproving it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*ma(a)qoli
“A reconstructed term associated with a native, indigenous, or ordinary person; its precise relationship to Moriori remains debated.”
Early Māori
Māori
Māori
“Ordinary, natural, or native; later used as a self-designation by the Indigenous Polynesian people of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Pre-European period
Moriori
Moriori
“The name used by the Indigenous Polynesian people of Rēkohu; its exact formation and literal meaning are not certain.”
1791–1792
English
Moriori
“Recorded by Europeans after the arrival of the British vessel HMS Chatham at the islands.”
Modern English
English
Moriori
“The name of the Indigenous people of the Chatham Islands and their cultural and historical community.”