Editing North Island (section)

==Māori mythology==

According to [[Māori mythology]], the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the [[demigod]] [[Māui (Māori mythology)|Māui]]. Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it right up from the sea. While he was not looking, his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island, and thus a Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui ("The Fish of Māui").<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/1000-maori-place-names |title=1000 Māori place names |publisher=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage |date=6 August 2019 |access-date=27 December 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106171905/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/1000-maori-place-names |url-status=live }}</ref> The mountains and valleys are believed to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers' hacking at the fish.

During [[James Cook|Captain James Cook]]'s [[First voyage of James Cook|voyage between 1769 and 1770]], Tahitian navigator [[Tupaia (navigator)|Tupaia]] accompanied the circumnavigation of New Zealand. The maps described the North Island as "Ea Heinom Auwe" and "Aeheinomowe", which recognises the "Fish of Māui" element. Names of certain tribes like [[Muaūpoko]] (''mua upoko'' "front of the head") and [[Muriwhenua]] (''muri whenua'', "backland") also reflect the locations of their settlement in this "fish" as well as levels of seniority between tribes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=Binney |first2=Judith |last3=Harris |first3=Aroha |title=Tangata Whenua: A History |date=2015 |publisher=Bridget Williams Books |isbn=978-0-908321-54-4 |pages=97–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NS7xCgAAQBAJ&dq=tuki+map+cook&pg=PA97 }}</ref>{{verification needed|date=April 2025|reason=The names given on the maps may have been added as OR and may not be described in the source}}

Another Māori name that was given to the North Island, but is now used less commonly, is [[Aotearoa]]. Use of Aotearoa to describe the North Island fell out of favour in the early 20th century, and it is now a collective Māori name for New Zealand as a whole.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-02 |title=Ngāi Tahu leader: Let's not rush name change |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/452781/ngai-tahu-leader-let-s-not-rush-name-change |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |archive-date=12 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112184828/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/452781/ngai-tahu-leader-let-s-not-rush-name-change |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=McLintock |first1=Alexander Hare |last2=James Oakley Wilson |first2=D. S. C. |last3=Taonga |first3=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=AOTEAROA |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/aotearoa |access-date=2021-11-19 |website=An encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966. |language=en |archive-date=3 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503192156/https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/aotearoa |url-status=live }}</ref>