Whakataukī
Ko taku iwituaroa tēnā
My land, my backbone
This whakataukī - ko taku iwituaroa tēnā - speaks to how geographic features, place names and stories combine to create a foundation for all New Zealanders
From ‘Kahupeka’ by Cliff Whiting. Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa New Zealand Geographic Board copyright.
How to use
Ngā Ahuatanga Matawhenua o Aotearoa / New Zealand Geographic Features is a searchable, interactive database of common geographic features in Aotearoa New Zealand, with feature terms provided in te reo Māori and English. You can search for a particular term or click on the illustrations to find out about different geographic features. A brief definition in English is provided for each feature as well as alternative te reo Māori terms and associated feature types.
You can also download the whole list of feature terms and their descriptions as a PDF file.
Development of New Zealand Geographic Features
In 1998, then New Zealand Geographic Board member Tā Tipene O’Regan suggested that the Board develop a glossary of common and widely used te reo Māori generic terms for geographic features. A generic term is the descriptive part of a geographic name, as distinct from the specific name given to a feature or place. It describes the type of place or feature being named, eg maunga or mountain, whanga or bay, roto or lake and awa or river.
The Board noted that the glossary would be a valuable resource when considering place name proposals, particularly proposals for Māori place names. A summer scholarship student at Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) prepared an initial draft of the glossary, with Board members Tā Tipene O’Regan and Professor Wharehuia Milroy (1937-2019) providing comment. While originally intended to be part of the Board’s ‘Frameworks’ policy document (published in 2003), the Board agreed that it would be better suited as a standalone resource, to be maintained and updated as required.
From the early 2000s, a working group of Board members and Māori language experts refined the glossary which became known as the ‘Generic Geographic Feature Listing’. Members of the working group included Tā Tipene O’Regan and Professor Wharehuia Milroy, Pat Park (d. 2016) from the Ministry of Māori Development (now Te Puni Kōkiri), Māori Language Commissioner Dr Patu Hohepa (1936-2023) and Te Aue Davis (1925-2010). Te Aue was an expert advisor to the Board for many years, having been engaged as a researcher and editor, heavily contributing to the Board’s 1990 publications Māori Oral History Atlas and Survey Pegs of the Past and its 1995 first edition Tangata Whenua Place Names maps.
Completion and publication of the glossary becoming a key objective of the Board’s Māori Names Committee (now Te Komiti Taunahatanga Māori), established in 2010. In 2013, Te Haumihiata Mason, Board observer from Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori the Māori Language Commission, updated and edited the glossary. The Committee also agreed that simple black and white line drawings would be useful to illustrate the defining characteristics of each feature type, such as raorao (undulating hills) and pari (steep cliffs, bluff).
In 2018 the glossary was ready for publication following a final review by Te Haumihiata Mason, by then an independent orthographic advisor to the Board. As part of this final review, Ms Mason identified the main or ‘high frequency’ term that would be used for each geographic feature and also added te reo Māori terms for English generic terms where these were missing. Some of these terms were drawn from existing Māori language glossaries used in education while Ms Mason coined terms for other features with no documented Māori equivalent. For example, tīramoana for beacon and tapa tāone for suburb. Illustrator Renee Norman completed line drawings for most of the features in 2019.
While the Board and Māori Names Committee had discussed various publication options over the years, they ultimately decided on an online searchable database called New Zealand Geographic Features, combining the line drawings with the features listing. At the Board’s request, Ms Mason also provided a whakataukī to reflect the kaupapa (purpose) of the site, selecting ‘Ko taku iwituaroa tēnā’ as above. This is a shortened version of ‘Ahakoa te āhua o te whenua, ko taku iwituaroa tēnā’, meaning ‘No matter the lie of the land, it is my backbone’, reflecting the deep connection between Māori and the whenua. In September 2020 the Board launched the standalone New Zealand Geographic Features website and in 2025 the site was migrated to the Toitū Te Whenua LINZ website.
While it took over 20 years to publish, the New Zealand Geographic Features site is a testament to the original vision of Tā Tipene O’Regan and the hard work of many along the way. It remains an evolving resource that supports consistent geographic naming in Aotearoa New Zealand.
He mahi kai takata, he mahi kai hōaka – It is work that consumes people, as greenstone consumes sandstone.