Fancy a walk up to Te Heru-o-Kahukura? Or a cycle over Pukeatua? You might not know these names yet, but you’ve probably visited the places. These names are just two of thirteen te reo place names around Horomaka/Banks Peninsula officially restored and given the same legal status as the European names that were later also given to them.
These names are:
Aua / King Billy Island
Kaitangata / Mansons Peninsula
Ōrongomai / Cass Peak
Pukeatua / Dyers Pass
Tapuwaeharuru / Evans Pass
Te Ahi-a-Tamatea (formerly Rapaki Rock)
Te Heru-o-Kahukura / Sugarloaf
Te Moenga-o-Wheke / The Tors
Te Piaka / Adderley Head
Te Tihi-o-Kahukura / Castle Rock
Te Rāpaki-o-Te Rakiwhakaputa / Rapaki
The names reference Horomaka stories and history. At the announcement Ngāi Tahu kaumātua Tā Tipene O’Regan said: “The way of holding our place in the land and in our memory is in our place names.”
Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke (Rāpaki Rūnanga) initially proposed the creation of the dual names to the New Zealand Geographic Board, and Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage announced the changes officially at Rāpaki Marae in July.
For more information about the history and names of our local landscape prior to colonial settlement, take a look at the Library’s great online resource, Tī Kōuka Whenua as well as the Ngāi Tahu online atlas, Kā Huru Manu.
As a Te wiki o te reo Māori challenge, why not try and memorize the dual names of some of the places you know best?
Find more
- Library titles about Māori place names
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