Te Atatū (from the Māori : "the dawn") is the name of two adjacent suburbs in West Auckland, New Zealand: Te Atatū Peninsula and Te Atatū South. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city centre, and are separated by the Northwestern Motorway. Te Atatū Peninsula, the change to “Peninsula” was put forward by Emi Groot and adopted by council in 1997. Also known as Te Atatū North, lies, as the name suggests, on the northern part of a small peninsula. It is located at the western extremity of the Waitemata Harbour, and is formed by the Henderson Creek, an estuarial arm of the harbour that extends southwest from the harbour. The northern part of the peninsula is four kilometres in length and two kilometres in width. Te Atatū South is sited at the point where the peninsula meets the rest of the island, south of the motorway interchange, which bisects the formerly more closely linked areas. Both suburban areas are characterised by a well-established suburban neighbourhood, with two town centres providing shops, medical services and community facilities. Most inhabitants work in West Auckland or central Auckland. The Te Atatū electorate, which covers both suburbs, is served in the New Zealand Parliament by Phil Twyford. Geography The peninsula (and to a large degree, the southern part of the suburb), is defined by Henderson Creek in the west, and the Whau River in the east. Mangroves and other estuarine epifauna dominate the boundaries, with the geology composed mostly of marine and stream sediments. History The original Maori name for the area was , meaning the place of Rukuwai (an ancestor of Te Kawerau-a-Maki). The remains of a large Māori settlement were found in many places on the suburb, and the remains of flax baskets, fishing nets, and old clothes were found in the land of a local resident and heaps of pipi shells have been found in farms. European settlement began between 1853 and 1873 when Thomas Henderson acquired land from the Ngati Whatua and eventually the Crown in 1855. He established the Henderson Timber Mill in what is now known as Henderson. The area was known as Henderson Point until 1907 when it was renamed Te Atatu ("the dawn") by Reverend Jackson Bennett. The name was based upon his vision of the morning sun shimmering on the Waitemata. The two suburbs