Te rangahau ā-iwi Researching iwi

Māori connect to a waka, whānau, hapū and iwi.

Identify your iwi

When researching your whakapapa, it's helpful to find out from your whānau what your iwi affiliations are.

Here are some additional sources that you might like to try:

Māori electoral rolls – from 1872 to 1969 they recorded iwi and hapū names
Māori birth and death certificates – recorded iwi and hapū names
Military records - can provide iwi, hapū, next of kin, and sometimes a will. Be aware that ages recorded on military records were not always correct.

Once you know your iwi affiliations you can search:

Tip

Visiting iwi marae can help provide further information and whakapapa.

Select your iwi or hapū below and find related books in the library catalogue.

Please note you may encounter slight differences in the spelling of iwi or hapū names throughout different material, including:

Dialectal differences, e.g. Ngāi Tahu / Kāi Tahu
Use of double vowel instead of macron, e.g. Ngaati / Ngāti
Iwi or hapū names written as one or multiple words, e.g. Ngā Puhi / Ngāpuhi; Te Āti Awa / Te Ātiawa
Macrons not used in older material.

Also note that the list below is not exhaustive; we don't hold material for all iwi or hapū.