Maori Place Names

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 255, 24 July 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

Maori Place Names

The recent reference to the renaming of a. small settlement in the Forty Mile Bush, from Brownstown to Ilukanni, n much more euphonious title assuredly, brings to mind the selection of a name for another settlement near the northern border of the King Country. It appears that the person largely responsible for the early development of the settlement about 20 years ago was a man named Cruiekshank. Tie was one of the first settlers there, and helped the other settlers in many ways in true neighbourly and pioneer fashion. When the time came to select a name for the settlement someone suggested “Ngabupe,” which rather appealed to those interested, for it was unclaimed by any other district, was euphonious, and rather attractive. But the underlying significance of the word was kept in the background. The Government adopted the recommendation, and so the district became known as Ngahape. It is a very fine district indeed. The Maori word Ngahape means “bent leg,” which of course is crooked shank, or “Cruickshank,” a distinct compliment to the settler —and so understood. — A.A.R. (Te Awaniutu).