Tangata Whenua
/ˈtaŋata ˈfɛnʉa/noun
A Māori term for the people who belong to a particular land through ancestral, customary, or historic connection.
Did you know?In New Zealand law and public life, tangata whenua commonly refers to Māori iwi or hapū with mana whenua—customary authority and connection to a specific place.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*taŋata
“Person or human being; the ancestor of Māori tangata”
Proto-Polynesian
Proto-Polynesian
*fanua
“Land, country, territory, or inhabited place; the ancestor of Māori whenua”
Early Māori
Māori
tangata
“Person, human being, or people”
Early Māori
Māori
whenua
“Land, country, territory; also placenta, reflecting a traditional symbolic connection between birth and the earth”
Modern Māori
Māori
tangata whenua
“People of the land, especially those with ancestral or customary ties to a place”
Modern English
English
tangata whenua
“An established Māori loan phrase used in New Zealand English for Indigenous people connected to a particular land”