Murihiku is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name describing a region of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

in New Zealand. Traditionally it was used to describe the portion of the South Island below the Waitaki River, but now is mostly used to describe the province of Southland. The name means "the tail end (of the land)" (literally ''muri'', the end of; ''hiku'', the tail). In 1861, when Southland became a province, the settler population wanted to retain the name "Murihiku", but this wish was ignored by the then Governor, Browne. This was "much to the inhabitants' indignation and disgust".

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