Whale names in te reo Māori
Te Ara records tohorā as a general name for whales and also a name associated with southern right whales; parāoa for sperm whale; paikea for a southern humpback whale in some traditions; ūpokohue for pilot whale; and miha pakake for a whale calf. Meanings and usage vary between iwi and historical contexts. These names should be linked to the original account, not treated as a definitive universal species dictionary.
Names carry knowledge
Te reo Māori names for whales are part of a body of observation and cultural knowledge. They may identify a kind of whale, describe a feature or appear in particular stories and tribal contexts. Readers should be able to move from a name to the associated tradition or biological subject without assuming that every historical usage matches a modern scientific species label exactly. The library’s books on Paikea, Tinirau and whale-tooth taonga provide different routes into this vocabulary.
Explore connected books
Explore connected history
- The Kapiti Coast: Māori Tribal History and Place Names
- The Kapiti Coast: Māori tribal history and place names (2004)
- Te Wai-o-Rongomai and Te Puna-o-Rongomai
- Waikanae naming traditions
- Whale Song, Kāpiti — Blood, Oil and Bone (2025)
- Puketapu ki Paraparaumu — History and Living Connections
- Modern whaling and whale watching
- Māori and whales: an enduring relationship
- Paikea and the whale that saved him
- Tinirau, Kae and the whale Tutunui
- Whales, taonga and customary resources