Ngāi Tahu trace their tribal identity back to Paikea, who lived in the Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. To escape being killed at sea by his brother, he came to New Zealand on the back of a whale. A cultural initiative that was long in the making in Queenstown. CL6.3 To use the Ngāi Tahu Cultural Heritage Mapping Project as one method to retain and transfer knowledge of names and places, and the stories that go with these names and places. Water zone committees recommend actions and tactics to councils and other organisations involved in water management. Over 20-plus years, Ngāi Tahu Property has successfully developed residential subdivisions, commercial properties and industrial business parks across Te Waipounamu-the South Island.

Tawhiri is an area traditionally used for mahinga kai-food and resource gathering. Justin Tipa (Ngāi Tahu) who led the formal naming ceremony says this is a first for the iwi. Hostilities eventually broke out, and in the early 18th century some Ngāi Tahu, led by Pūraho and his sons Maru and Mako, left the North Island for Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island). Ngāi Tahu Property is one of the largest property developers in the South Island, with extensive cross-sector experience and a strong balance sheet.

Paulette Tamati Elliffe (Ngāi Tahu) explains that it's more than just having Māori words, that it's about re-introducing the names of their ancestors. Ngāi Tahu's digital atlas of the original Māori names for the South Island can now be used to teach intermediate and early secondary school pupils about colonisation. Ngāi Tahu share this ancestor with the Ngāti Porou people. CL6.2 To encourage the use of Ngāi Tahu place names in addition to those amended under the NTCSA.
Find out more about the mapping project . Largely because of internal struggles between Ngāi Tahu and their kin, Ngāi Tahu migrated further south to Wellington and settled the area with the related tribes, Ngāti Ira and Ngāti Māmoe. Ngāi Tahu has collected thousands of place names to make this traditional knowledge accessible to whānau and the wider public.

Ngāi Tahu Tourism is excited to introduce te reo Māori names across their fleet of jet boats in Glenorchy and Tāhuna (Queenstown)!. The jet boats at Dart River Adventures and Shotover Jet were blessed by local mana whenua, who acted as guides through the naming process. One of Paikea’s descendants was Tahupōtiki, from whom Ngāi Tahu take their name. The names of the new developments as part of Ngāi Tahu Property's Ah... umahi-Industrial portfolio pay respect to local chiefs whose historical land claims were rejected.