In New Zealands North and South Islands, each Mori tribe (iwi) has its own history, founding ancestor or ancestress, tribal territory (rohe), and governance structure, often based around a tribal council known as rnanga.The role of Mori tribes has evolved considerably in recent centuries. From the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, a turning point in the history of Mori-Pkeh (New Zealanders of European descent), to the most recent initiatives to promote and preserve Mori language and traditions, Mori tribes continue to influence New Zealands politics, particularly on matters of land rights and resource management.What Do We Mean by Iwi?A Mori p (village), 1880s. Source: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaThe Mori name for tribe is iwi, which translates as nation or people. The tribe was the foundation of Mori life before European contact and its largest political grouping. All Mori tribes trace their origins back to the Polynesian sailors who arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand in their large ocean-going canoes (waka) during the 13th century.Tribal names honor Mori ancestors, both male and female, and names are usually accompanied by a prefix. The most common prefixes are Ngti, Ng, Ngi, and Te ti (the people of or the offspring of), as well as Te Whnau (meaning the family of), Te Khui (the assemblage of), or Ng Uri (the descendants of). The name of the Ngpuhi iwi, for instance, the largest tribe of the North Island, translates as The People of Puhi.Mori treasure box (papahou) owned by an unspecified tribe from the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island, 18th century. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe name of Te Whnau--Apanui, one of the tribes from the Bay of Plenty, can be translated as The Family of Apanui. In pre-contact Mori society, each iwi consisted of several related hap, that is, several clans (or descent groups) that controlled a defined portion of their iwis tribal territory. In times of war, the clans came together to defend their sea fisheries, their sacred volcanoes, lakes, rivers, and streams. Marriages were often the key to resolving inter-tribal disputes over land and natural resources and ensuring the survival of the haps members.Although some clans moved according to seasonal changes, various hap usually lived in a single p (village). During the Musket Wars, Mori clans fortified their p with multiple rows of single wood palisades, ditches, ramparts, elevated defensive terraces, and fighting stages to protect themselves from attacks by musket-armed enemy tribes. Such villages became known as gunfighter p.Mount Ngauruhoe, on the North Island, is sacred to the Ngti Twharetoa tribe, the custodian of the central plateau, photograph by Matthew Buchanan, 2019. Source: UnsplashAs the population increased, so did the various hap. In some cases, larger hap could split into smaller ones. It also happened that small splinter groups, originating from intertribal wars or forced migration, would merge. In turn, each hap comprised at least one (but often more than one) extended family, which the Mori call whnau, and which continues to form the foundation and basic unit of Mori society. Sometimes large and powerful families, with leaders strong enough to stake their claim, would evolve into a clan, that is, one hap, in its own right.The North and the South IslandsMap of New Zealand showing the North and the South Islands, as well as Stewart Island, south of the South Island. Source: Wikimedia CommonsAotearoa/New Zealand consists of two main islands, the North and the South Islands, and more than 700 smaller islands, including Stewart Island, New Zealands third-largest island south of the South Island across the Foveaux Strait. The history of the North and South Islands and their varied landscapes is interwoven with the stories, myths, and traditions passed down from one Mori generation to another, from one tribe to another. The Mori name for the North Island, for example, is Te Ika-a-Mui, the fish of Mui.According to Mori myths, the North Island was fished up by Mui, the famous trickster hero of Polynesian and Mori mythology, during a fishing expedition in the Pacific Ocean. His brothers refused to take him with them, so he hid in the canoe. When he revealed himself to them, they were already out at sea.Rotorua on the North Island, photograph by Yoann Laheurte, 2019. Source: UnsplashHere Mui cast a fish hook into the deep waters of the ocean and caught a fish: according to some traditions, it was a flounder, and according to others a stingray. The fish became the North Island. Muis brothers disobeyed his prayers and chopped up the fish, cutting off its tail, gills, head, and fins. Hence, the islands uneven and rugged landscape. The southern part of the North Island, where Wellington was founded between 1839 and 1840, is the head of the fish. The Northland region, home to the Ngpuhi tribe, represents the tail of the fish, while its backbone runs from Rotorua, with its hot mud pools, geysers, and lakes, to Lake Taup. Mt Maungaphatu, whose rugged bush ranges are sacred to the Ngi Thoe, is the heart of the fish.Stewart Island (Rakiura), 2020, photograph by Sbastien Goldberg. Source: UnsplashWhile the North Island is believed to be Muis fish, the South Island is Muis canoe. It is indeed known as Te Waka-a-Mui, the canoe of Mui. The southern tip of the South Island represents the stern of the canoe, while its northern part north is the canoes prow.Stewart Island, the hilly and forested island 30 kilometers (18-19 miles) south of the South Island, is thought to represent the canoes anchor. Today, the Mori call it Rakiura, which means glowing skies, but its original Mori name is Te Punga o Te Waka a Mui, which translates as the anchor stone of Muis canoe.The Largest Mori Tribes of the North IslandHne Heke, one of Moris most influential leaders, was a member of the Ngpuhi tribe, watercolor by Joseph Jenner Merrett, 1845. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThree of the four largest Mori tribes by population live in New Zealands North Island. The Ngpuhi iwi is Aotearoas largest and most influential tribe. Bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean and to the west by the Tasman Sea, its rohe (territory) occupies the islands Northland region, the Winterless North, as many call it. Ngpuhis territory stretches east to west from the Bay of Islands to Hokianga Harbor, the latter known among the Mori as Te Kohanga o Te Tai Tokerau, the nest of the northern people.To the south, Ngphui territory also includes present-day Whangrei, New Zealands northernmost city. The Ngpuhi trace their ancestry back to three canoes, the Matawhaorua, Mataatua, and Ngtokimatawhaorua waka. Kupe, the legendary Polynesian explorer, entered Hokianga Harbor in his Matawhaorua canoe. With his wife Kuramrtini, he was the first to discover New Zealand, which he named Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud.Whale at krito. Source: Canterbury MuseumThe second largest Mori tribe is the Ngti Porou, the easternmost iwi on the North Island. Its name translates as the People of Porou, after their most important ancestor, Porourangi. Their other founding ancestor, Paikea, is said to have sailed to Aotearoa from Hawaiki on the back of a huge whale.The Mori claim that when Mui fished up the North Island the first peak to emerge from the depths of the Ocean, the first bit of land to be lit by the rising sun was Te Ara ki Hikurangi, known among the Pkeh population as Mt Hikurangi. Today, Hikurangi is the most sacred place of the Ngti Porou. The tribes rohe runs along the coast from Gisborne (and the Te Toka-a-Taiau rock) in the south to Ptikirua in the north. In its southern part, it extends inland to Waikaremoana.Mt Ruapehu, in the heart of the North Island, 2021, photograph by Luca Calderone. Source: UnsplashThe fourth largest group is not a tribe, but a tribal league known as the Waikato Confederation. The confederations tribal rohe occupies a large area of the North Island, the Waikato region, and extends along New Zealands longest river, Waikato, which connects Mt Ruapehu to Lake Taup. Among the 33 iwi (or hap, sub-tribes, as some tend to call them) included in the confederation are the Ngti Mahuta (the first Mori king, Te Wherowhero, belonged to this iwi), Ngti Tamainup (named after the tribes founding ancestor, Mori chief Tamainu-p), Ngti Mhanga (beloved childrens writer and illustrator Melanie Drewery is affiliated with the Ngti Mhanga), and Ngti Te Ata (the tribe of one of New Zealands most important female leaders Dame Ngneko Kaihau Minhinnick). All these tribes descend from those who first came to New Zealand aboard the Tainui waka.The South IslandMori representatives of the tribes of Te Tauihu (the Top of the South Island): Ngti Koata, Ngti Toa, and Ngti Kuia tribes from the South Island, photograph by Frederick Nelson Jones, 1916. Source: Nelson Provincial MuseumOf the more than 100 Mori tribes in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the third largest by population is the Ngi Tahu. The tribes name translates as the people of Tahu, after Tahptiki, one of Paikeas grandsons (or great-grandsons). The members of the Ngi Tahu share their ancestors with the Ngti Porou from the North Island and trace their identity back to Paikea who arrived in New Zealand on the back of a whale to escape his murderous brother.The story of the Ngi Tahu is one of migrations, battles, betrayals, and intermarriages with other tribes. Today, their tribal territory covers much of the South Island, stretching from Stewart Island (Rakiura) in the south to Kahurangi Point, the northernmost point of the islands west coast. Originally, however, the Ngi Tahu were a northern tribe from the Gisborne District.According to Ngi Tahu stories, Lake Tekapo (Takap) was dug up by Rkaihaut, an explorer of the Waitaha tribe, later absorbed by the Ngi Tahu, photograph by Tobias Keller, 2016. Source: UnsplashFrom the North Islands East Coast, they began their migration southward, first to the fertile Heretaunga region near present-day Hastings, then to Wellington, where they settled and ruled the area with other tribes. Eventually, in the early 18th century, some Ngi Tahu left the North Island, crossed the Cook Strait, and landed on the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu, as it is known among the Mori. Each move was accompanied by bloodshed.During the early years of their occupation of the South Island, however, the Ngi Tahu deliberately intermarried with the original resident tribes, learning their traditions and adopting their customs, particularly those of the Waitaha people, such as their understanding of wind patterns.The Top of the South IslandMarlborough Sounds, the ancestral lands of the Ngti Kuia, one of the tribes of Te Tauihu (the Top of the South Island, photograph by Mark De Jong, 2019. Source: UnsplashThe top of the South Island is known among the Mori Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Mui, the Prow of the Canoe of Mui. Despite being separated from the North Island by the Cook Strait, it is what we could call a transitional area in terms of tribal organization. Most of the iwi living in this region have deep ties with the North Island tribes. Some of them, such as the Ngti Toa, Te tiawa, and Ngti Koata (the people of Koata, named after their founding ancestress), migrated southward from the Taranaki, Waikato, and Wellington regions of the North Island.The Ngti Tama, for instance, were originally from Taranaki, and crossed the Cook Strait in the 1820s before participating in the 1835 invasion of the Chatham Islands, the homeland of the Moriori, along with the Ngati Mutunga.Most of the tribes from the Top of the South Island migrated south from the North Islands Taranaki region, pictured here, on North Island, photograph by Raquel Moss, 2021. Source: UnsplashThe Rangitnes rohe occupies different regions across New Zealands two islands. In the North Island, their lands stretch from the mouth of the Rangitikei River in the Manawat region to the Ruahine Ranges in the east. They also extend into the Horowhenua district to the west and the Wairarapa region in the southeastern corner of the North Island. On the South Island, the Rangitnes rohe occupies a significant part of Marlborough (known among Mori as Te Tauihu-o-te-waka), one of the South Islands 16 regions, including cities like Nelson and Picton and several national parks. The Top of the South Island is also home to two other major tribes, the Ngti Apa ki te R T, Te Rnanga o Ngti Rarua, and the Ngti Kuia.Mori warriors performing a Haka for U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, photograph by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo, 2012. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThe latter is believed to be the oldest (and largest) iwi in the area. Its rohe stretches from Pelorus Sound (the Hoiere), part of the network of submerged valleys known as the Marlborough Sounds, at the islands north-easternmost point, to the Nelson Lakes National Park in the south and Taitapu on the west coast.From the northernmost districts of the North Island to the southernmost regions of the South Island, Mori tribes (iwi) and their leaders continue to influence New Zealands politics, representing Mori interests and determination to preserve their language and culture among non-Mori New Zealanders.