The Origin of Tamaki Makaurau

The evidence presented in this article leads to a surprising and unexpected conclusion, which is that Tāmaki Makaurau is not a Maori name, it is a European place name constructed in the 20th century from Tāmaki makau rau, a whakataukī (proverb). Further, the proverb is modern, originating in the 1860s.
Sixty years after the founding of Auckland, a group of New Zealand Europeans, identified and collectively known here as the “Scholars of Ethnography” took an obscure proverb. They re-made it i...