means 'people of the land' or 'caretakers of the land'. In New Zealand, Maori are the indigenous or first people and are the tangata whenua.
in relation to a particular area, means the Iwi or hapu, that holds mana whenua over that area.
literally: person or people of the land; people belonging to a tribal region; hosts as distinct from visitors
literally "people of the land", refers to local MÄori.
A person / people belonging to Whanau or Hapu having traditional marae in a particular tribal area.
Tangata whenua is a MÄori term literally meaning "people of the land", from tangata, 'people' and whenua land.According to Williams' definitive Dictionary of the MÄori Language, tangata means "man" or "human being", whilst tÄngata with the long Ä is the plural meaning "people" Whenua means both land and placenta (again referencing Williams, who lists five definitions). Unlike European thought where people own land (and the use of the singular gender is historically intended here), in MÄori, the land is regarded as a mother to the people. The relationship to land is not dissimilar to that of the foetus to the placenta.
