FILE - A man takes a picture of his wife with Taranaki Maunga, previously known as Mount Taranaki, in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Sept. 26, 2011.

The recognition acknowledges the mountain's theft from the Māori after New Zealand was colonized. It fulfills an agreement from the country's government to Indigenous people.

But colonizers of New Zealand in the 18th and 19th centuries took first the name of Taranaki and then the mountain itself. In 1770, the British explorer Captain James Cook spotted the peak from ...

FILE - A man takes a picture of his wife with Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Sept. 26, 2011.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people was recognized as a legal person on Thursday after a new law granted it all the rights and ...

FILE - A man takes a picture of his wife with Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Sept. 26, 2011.

A mountain in New Zealand is now officially recognised as a human. Considered an ancestor by Indigenous people, ... in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Sept. 26, 2011 (AP2011) ...

A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people has been recognized as a legal person after a new law granted it all the rights and responsibilities of a human being.

A man takes a picture of his wife with Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on Sept. 26, 2011.

Dita Alangkara. FILE - A man takes a picture of his wife with Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, in the background in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Sept. 26, 2011.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people was recognized as a legal person on Thursday after a new law granted it all the rights and ...