Gill (1876:155) records a proverb: Ua po Avaiki, ua ao nunga nei - 'Tis night now in spirit-land, for 'tis light in this upper world." Tregear (1891:392) also records the term Avaiki as meaning "underworld" at Mangaia, probably sourced from Gill. The proposed origin of Hawaiki being both the ancestral homeland and the underworld is that both are the dwelling places of ancestors and the spirits.

Other possible cognates of the word Hawaiki include sauali{{okinai}} ("spirits" in Samoan)