The principal Māori iwi of the South Island, with the largest tribal area (takiwā) in New Zealand, stretching from the top of the South Island to Stewart Island/Rakiura. Originated in the Gisborne district of the North Island before migrating south over multiple generations, displacing or absorbing earlier South Island iwi such as Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha. A living iwi with an estimated 84,000 affiliates per the 2023 census, administered by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, and party to one of New Zealand's largest Treaty of Waitangi settlements (1998).
The principal iwi of the South Island today; its 1998 settlement built one of Maori society's largest economic institutions.
Booker Prize-winning novel by a Ngāi Tahu (Kāi Tahu) author, centred on Māori identity, myth, and whakapapa.
Covers South Island iwi history, the Ngāi Tahu migration and settlement, and the 19th-century land alienation that led to the later Treaty settlement.