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Māori GIS Toolkit

This page brings together practical things you can use, download or open across MāoriGIS.nz.

Use it when you need a tool, dataset, viewer, worked example or practical workflow and do not want to browse the whole guide first.

Start mapping​

Matawhenua GIS Starter Kit​

A ready-made QGIS project and public starter data designed to reduce the setup needed before useful local mapping can begin.

QGIS​

Install and use the main desktop GIS used throughout this guide.

QGIS practical course​

Eight exercises covering layers, Māori land, ingoa wāhi, editing, joins, spatial analysis, historical maps and map layouts. Small teaching structures are shown in the lessons rather than supplied as placeholder downloads.

Choose a mapping tool​

Compare QGIS, Google Earth, ArcGIS Earth and other practical options before installing more software than the mahi needs.

Work in the field​

Field GIS​

Use phones or tablets for observations, photographs, assets and offline mapping. The guide compares QField, Field Maps, Survey123 and KoboToolbox around actual field tasks.

Marae emergency map worked example​

Build asset, access and field-checking structures in context rather than starting from a synthetic download.

Awa restoration worked example​

Use stable monitoring-site IDs and repeat observations for practical taiao work.

Find data​

GIS data for Aotearoa​

Task-based entry point for public spatial data useful to Māori GIS mahi.

Geospatial Data Catalogue​

Find useful data sources across national, local and specialist organisations.

Council GIS index​

Find council mapping sites, open-data portals and services. The downloadable council index is maintained from checked public sources.

Māori land​

Māori land information, cadastral context and the limits of treating whenua as property geometry.

Ingoa wāhi and place names​

Official, historical and local naming sources with attention to provenance and context.

Use Authoritative for what? when several sources appear to disagree.

Investigate whenua​

Papakāinga and housing GIS​

Bring together land blocks, parcels, terrain, hazards, access, infrastructure, planning and imagery for early spatial investigation.

Papakāinga investigation worked example​

Follow the layer, candidate-comparison and unresolved-question structures in context.

Landlocked Māori land​

Investigate formed roads, parcels, tracks, historical evidence and other access clues without treating them as the same thing.

Work with history​

Archives to map​

Move from reports, Māori Land Court material, survey plans and other historical sources into source-linked GIS research.

Build a spatial research log​

Keep searches, source wording, page references, candidate matches and spatial evidence connected.

Georeferencing historical maps​

Align scanned maps and plans in QGIS, inspect distortion and digitise selected features while retaining provenance.

Historical ingoa wāhi worked example​

Follow a complete source-to-map research workflow without a separate synthetic template pack.

Search documents locally​

Local AI and Māori GIS​

Run AI on your own computer to search local PDFs and reports without automatically sending document content to a cloud service.

Practical AI applications​

Search reports, extract tables, compare documents, draft metadata and prepare candidate GIS data.

Local AI downloads and resources​

Official software links, prompts and the reviewed Wairarapa public-place demonstration files used in the complete example.

Map taiao and resilience​

Awa, wetlands, coast and moana​

Applied GIS for catchments, restoration, monitoring, wetlands, historical channels and coastal change.

Marae emergency mapping​

Build practical maps around access, water, power, communications, hazards and offline use.

Marae emergency map worked example​

See the asset fields, access structure and print/offline checks directly on the page.

Make better maps​

Cartography and map communication​

Practical guidance for map hierarchy, ingoa wāhi, awa labels, imagery, uncertain boundaries, A4/A3 layouts, hui maps and accessibility.

Maps for hui and wānanga​

Prepare maps that support kōrero rather than dominate it.

Learn from complete examples​

Worked examples​

Follow six question-to-map examples covering papakāinga, marae emergency mapping, historical ingoa wāhi, awa restoration, landlocked whenua and historical change.

Learning pathway​

A guided sequence from first map through data, field work, checking, publishing and repeatable practice.

Ngā Poutama Matawhenua resources​

Recorded wānanga, learning resources and related material.

Keep the source visible​

Whatever tool you use, retain enough information to answer:

  1. Where did this information come from?
  2. When was it created or last checked?
  3. What was it created to represent?
  4. What local relationships or context help explain what it means?

Use Provenance and source checking and the spatial research log rather than relying on a generic downloadable source-register file.

Last reviewed: 3 September 2026

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