Quote:
Originally Posted by DNSB
Te Ika-a-Maui or North Island is a country? New Zealand was named after Zeeland AFAIR so perhaps you meant Aotearoa though I seem to remember that that was originally used to refer to North Island only.
If it's trivial and useless, I tend to remember it.
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Tino pai, rawa atu - Excellent, well done! I did put Aotearoa in, then changed it to be more specific - Te Ika a Māui (the fish of Maui) refers to the North Island. Your recollection of the history of the term Aotearoa is really good too. It's something of an invention, but it is a local invention, not foisted on the islands from 12,000 km away by a country that has on occasion still left us off the map

The fascinating thing about "Te Ika a Māui" is that the island DOES look a bit like a fish; flounder, sole or stingray perhaps, which makes me wonder, how did they know?
