Murihiku

This article is about the region. For the Invercargill marae, see Murihiku Marae.

Murihiku is a region of the South Island in New Zealand, as used by the Māori people. Traditionally it was used to describe the portion of the South Island below the Waitaki River, but now is mostly used to describe the province of Southland. The name means 'the tail end (of the land)'[1] (literally muri, 'the end of'; hiku, 'tail').

In 1861, when Southland became a province, the settler population wanted to retain the name "Murihiku", but this wish was ignored by Governor Thomas Gore Browne. This was "much to the inhabitants' indignation and disgust".[2]

  1. ^ "Murihiku", from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.
  2. ^ "Place Names: Southern New Zealand". Mataura Ensign: 7. 16 August 1912.