Hawaiiki

In Polynesian mythology, Hawaiki (also rendered as "Avaiki" (Society Islands), "Savai'i", (Samoa), "Havaiki" (Reo Tahiti)) is the original home of the Polynesian peoples, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories.

Anne Salmond states Havai'i is the old name for Raiatea, the homeland of the Māori. When James Cook first sighted New Zealand in 1769, he had Tupaia on board, a Raiatean navigator and linguist. Cook's arrival seemed to be a confirmation of a prophecy by Toiroa, a priest from Mahia. At Tolaga Bay, Tupaia conversed with the priest, tohunga, associated with the school of learning located there, called Te Rawheoro. The priest asked about the Maori homelands, 'Rangiatea' (Ra'iatea), 'Hawaiki' (Havai'i, the ancient name for Ra'iatea), and 'Tawhiti' (Tahiti).

Linguists have reconstructed the term to Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *sawaiki.

The Māori word Hawaiki figures in legends about the arrival of the Māori in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The same concept appears in other Polynesian cultures, the name appearing variously as Havaiki, Havai'i, or 'Avaiki in other Polynesian languages, though Hawaiki or the misspelling "Hawaiiki" appear to have become the most common variants used in English. Even though the Sāmoans have preserved no traditions of having originated elsewhere, the name of the largest Sāmoan island Savaiʻi preserves a cognate with the word Hawaiki, as does the name of the Polynesian islands of Hawaiʻi (the ʻokina denoting a glottal stop that replaces the "k" in some Polynesian languages).

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