Tangata whenua () is a New Zealand Māori term that translates to 'people of the land'. It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly, the Māori people whose ancestors have occupied the land for so many generations that they are considered to have become part of the land.
Etymology
According to Williams's definitive
Dictionary of the Māori Language, tangata means 'man', whilst tāngata (with the macronised "ā") is the plural, and means 'people'.
Tangata—without the macron—can also mean 'people' in reference to a group with a singular identity.
Whenua means both 'land' and 'placenta' (again referencing Williams, who lists five definitions). It is an ancient Austronesian word with cognates across the Malayo-Polynesian world, from Malay language benua (now meaning 'continent'), Visayan language * banwa and to Rapa Nui henua; ultimately from Proto-Austronesian * banua.
Contexts
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In the context of tribal descent and ownership of land, tangata whenua are the people who descend from the first people to settle the land of the district; the mana may reside with later arrivals.
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At a particular marae, the tangata whenua are the owners of the marae, in contradistinction to the manuhiri ('guests'). After the welcoming ceremony on a marae, the guests may be afforded the temporary, honorary status of tangata whenua, and may even be invited to participate as locals as the ceremonies continue.
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Tangata whenua has also become a New Zealand English term with specific legal status.
Law and custom
The indigenous peoples of New Zealand may be divided into three levels of kinship, on which traditional governance was based.
Whānau
The smallest level, whānau, is what Westerners would consider the extended family, perhaps descended from a common great-grandparent. Traditionally a whānau would hold in common their food store (their forest or bush for hunting birds and gathering or growing plant foods, and a part of the sea, a river or a lake for gathering eels, fish, shellfish, and other seafood). These food stores were fiercely protected: when one's resources could no longer support a growing whānau, war with a neighbouring tribe might eventuate.
Hapū
The next level, hapū ('sub-tribe'), is a group of several related whānau, and was traditionally the primary governance unit. In war, and when decisions needed to be made in negotiations with outside tribes, whānau leaders would gather and the hapū would make collective decisions.
Iwi
Several (or many) hapū can trace their ancestry, usually on the male line, back to a particular waka, the ocean-going canoe upon which the common ancestors of that tribe arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, and this unified level is called the
iwi. Until the British arrived, the iwi was not a governance unit, it was called a
Wakameninga. An example of this is in Declaration of Independence 1835 with the of Rangatira signing a contract with King George as protector of , at that time . The Whakameninga is a spiritual union between , the Supreme Creato, and the Hapū Rangatira with no third-party interloper interference and attendance was voluntary depending on the issue Hapū could voice their non-consent by not sending their Rangatira.
is a New Zealand Government–controlled Statutory Trust.
However, under British and subsequent New Zealand law, the Hapū and Whakameninga were replaced by the CROWN intermediary agencies called iwi which were formed by statute so settlements could be negotiated between Tangata, Whenua and Statutory CROWN entities to be recognized in statutes of New Zealand Governments legislative framework and under the Treaty of Waitangi these Hapū and Iwi statutory entities are accorded Treaty rights and obligations under New Zealand law, when they are recognised as Māori they are recognised as "" within statutes.
Iwi trusts under the New Zealand Government authority co-ordinate Statutory Hapū Trusts that have to provide a provable relationship with a specific area of geography in unbroken occupation, and if this is acknowledged by the national or local authority, they become the legal tangata whenua under statutory authority. Some areas may have several Hapū with pre-existing rights as the tangata whenua, which can make the process more complex for non Māori entities who are creating working relationships. Some of these Hapū have not signed settlements, which causes more complexity.
When, for example, a major real-estate development is proposed to the territorial authority, because of the potential desecration of burial sites which are very numerous over New Zealand's topography the tangata whenua must be consulted,
Tangata tiriti
The notion of tangata whenua is sometimes contrasted with tangata tiriti—literally, 'the people of the treaty'.
Tangata tiriti refers to non-indigenous New Zealanders who are in the country by virtue of the Treaty of Waitangi. Although some see it as close to (but not necessarily synonymous with) the term pākehā, the peoples who have arrived through the auspices of the monarchs of Great Britain and then of New Zealand range in ethnicity, ancestry and roots from most parts of the world including the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as many islands in the Pacific. As used notably by Judge
Eddie Durie, the notion of tangata tiriti underlines partnership and acceptance.
[Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand, 2003, , p.167]
Mataawaka
Mataawaka or
mātāwaka is a term for a kinship group,
[ mātāwaka - Te Aka Māori Dictionary viewed 15 June 2025] but has acquired a contrasting meaning referring to Māori people living in an area who are not part of a tangata whenua group.
[see for example Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 - Sect 4: ""mataawaka" means Māori who— a) live in Auckland; and b) are not in a mana whenua group"]
See also
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Resource Management Act 1991
Notes
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A. Salmond, Hui, A Study of Maori Ceremonial Gatherings. Reed, Wellington, 1975.
