AO-TEA-ROA

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 25 January 1927, Page 8

AO-TEA-ROA

MAORI NAMES

No. 9. Three members of the crew of Te Aotea bore the names of Kahui, Kahui kau, Kahui kotare and Kahui po. Kahui kotare means the flock of kingfishers, and Kahui po the flock of night. Kahui maunga and Kahui mounga are interchangeable names for what are usually called the Tangata whenua. or the first inhabitants of New Zealand. In the Aotea traditions we are told that Turi fought with Te Kahui mounga over the possession of a spring of water at Patea, and yet the same traditions maintain that there were no inhabitants at Patea when Turi landed. From other sources we learn that the Kahui maunga people in various parts' of Ncm Zealand fled to the mountains and thick forests before the advancing tide of the later migration. Both forms of the word mean mountain flock. Kahui o te rangi, the flock of heaven, was used as a general term for some- of the Maori gods. Kahui tipua, flock of demons, is a name applied to some of the earliest inhabitants of the South Island. Kahu kaka a Manaia. was a son of Manaia of this coast. The name would be derived from a Kaka feather eloalc. Kahu kura is an old name in Polynesia. Its simple meaning is rod garment, but that, is no explanation of the widespread use of the name Kaliukurn is a name for the rainbow and also god of the rainbow. The name appears on a number of genealogies from different parts of both islands, and it was a Kahu kura who learned the art of net making from the fairies. Kahu kura is the nrst portion of a large number of names, of which some are easily explainable and others are not known. Kahu kura iri rangi was a descendant of Tamatea, captain of the Takitumu. The name; means the rainbow suspended in the sky, and in all probability was given from the fact of a rainbow being visible at the time of his birth. Kahu kura nui was the grandfather of Kahu kura iri rangi. It means the great Kahukura. This gentleman, has the honour of having been the first to tattoo the present chin pattern on the face of his sister, Iranui. There was a Taranaki chief named Kahukura nui who was one of the defenders of Karaka tonga pa somewhere about the year 1420. One of the oldest names on our list is Kahu kura rongomai; he was the son of Ngana te ariki, who lived in the fatherland about 2500 years ago. Kahu nui was one of the crew of Te Aotea. and a son of Tamatea received

the same name, Kahu nui, about the same time. Kahu nguiut, another son of Tamatea, was the eponymous ancestor of Ngati Kaliungunu,. the great tribe of Hawke’s Bay. No satisfactory explanation of the name has been placed on record. Garment of the dwarf is given by White, but this has the- serious objection of ignoring the grammatical formation of the word. The deformed hawk is a bettor translation, but it is without authority. Kahu o te rangi was a chief of Ngati Kahungunu, and the name translates as the hawk of heaven.

Kahu wera, burnt, garment, is a place on the North Taranaki coast. There are several hundred words on record beginning with Kai, and we might say there are almost as many meanings given to these words, for there are upwards of 200 in the dic : tionary beginning with Kai. Kai uloiie is divided into eight, classes of words, and as a prefix before verbs it changes them into nouns, as mahi, work, kai mahi, worker. Kai apohia is the correct name of the old pa near the present town of Kaiapoi in the South Island, and thei correct meaning of the name is food store. This name was given to it by a Ngai Tahu chief named Tu rakau tahi. Kai a te karoro is the name of a battlefield on the sands in the north Auckland country. It means the seagull’s feast, “because the dead were so numerous that they could not all be eaten bv the victors, and lienee were left for seagulls to oat. Kai huanga is a name from Bank’s Peninsula. Tt- was the name of a feud between some of the people of that locality; it means relation eater. Kai Iwi, the name of a stream about four miles north of Whanganui, is a clear example of a name having no apparent connection with the place itself. A man named Maro a whiua was killed and eaten there, and his bones thrown into the stream. Kai kapo was the name of a house erected by the people of Patea soon after their arrival at that place, aaid it is supposed to have been named after an incident in Tahiti. There is a story of a boy taking some food set apart for some of his elders, and this act led to trouble. The word Kapo means to snatch. Kai kapo would be snatcher. Bht the Rev. T. G. Hammond in his book. “The Story of Aotea,” spells the inord as Kaika-apb in every case where the word is given, although in the story contributed to the Polynesian Journal, vol. 10, by the same gentleman, the spelling is Kai kapo. In the story of “The Aotea Canoe,” dictated by Hetaraka Tautahi and Werahiko Taipuhi, and translated by the late Mr S. P. Smith, the word is given as Kai kapo. In all the other references known Kai kapo is

the word, not Kaika apo. The real difference in the word is the insertion of the hyphen between the two a’s, for in writing or reading it would be the same to a Maori. The hyphen where it is changes the meaning of both words. We would like to get the comment of some of the Maoris of the coast on this point. Kai koura is the name now applied to a range of mountains in the South Island. It was sometimes used as an indefinite term to denote any portion of the east coast of the South Island from Wairau to Kaiapoliia, although the name was first given to a place on the coast near the present town of Kaikoura. It- was named from the eating of some koura there by a very early party of explorers. Kainga roa is the name of the high plateau between the Waikato and the Rangitaiki rivers. It is also the name of a harbour at the Chathams. and tradition says that the name of the harbour was given in memory of the plateau mentioned above. This gives an example of how a most inappropriate name may be applied- to a place or person simply to keep in memory an old name. The name in full is Kainga. roa a Haungaroa, the- long eating of Haunga roa.

Kai para is the name of the wellknown harbour on the west coast of the North Island. It takes its name from the Para fern, that used to be an article of food there. Kai raparapa is the name of a place between the Waiwhakaiho and Manganui rivers, where a chief named Tama heia was eaten, even down to the soles of his feet Raparapa moaning sole of the foot. Kai rerenga a te Rangi liouhiri is an example of one of those long descriptive names beloved of the Maori. It is the name of a ford on the Whakatane river. Kai rerere is the term for a long jump. At the place mentioned travellers used to cross the river by jumping from stone to stone, j Rangi liouhiri excelled all others in the game. Kai taliarua was a noted c-anniba] who lived about halfway between Te Whaiti and Ruatahuna in Tuhoe land about 1730. At one time he would make a raid on Te Whaiti and take a person from thence to stock his larder, and the next time he would visit Ruatahuna for the same purpose, and so he got the name of Kai tahaxua, eater of both sides. Kai tangata may best be described as a localised name. It first occurs on Maori genealogies about the year 800 A.D., as the name of a man, with the meaning of man eater. It has been localised in' several places in New Zealand either as the name of a battle ground or in memory of the .first, of that name. There are also several Kai tangatas on the genealogies. Kai toko is a curious word. It occurs on the Great Barrier, on the Rimutaka ranges, and as a small lake and stream near Whanganui. its obvious meaning is worm eater. Kai uku is another word embodying an obsolete custom.

It was the name given to a pa at Te Mahia where, during a seige, the inhabitants were reduced to eating clay. Uku means clay. We close this list of words beginning with Kai with that much distorted word Kai wharawhara. This is the corre.ct spelling of the place on the Hutt’ railway now spelt Kai warra. The meaning of the. word is Kiekic, food. Our next set of words begins with Kaka, but no single line of interpretation can be followed like we have done with Kai. Kaka as a chief’s name is known all over New Zealand. A chief of Ngati Kahungunu named Kawatiri assumed the name of Kaka because one of the leading men of his tribe had been bewitched through eating some Kaka birds which had been cooked with magic rites. It was to keep the memory of the event fresh. Kakaramea is a place nam,e in several widely separated parts of New Zealand, and perhaps the best'known is the Rainbow Mountain at Wai o tapu. Kakaramea is ochre of various shades of red. The many coloured clays on the slopes of the mountain are the source of both Maori and English names.

There is a long story attached to the name of Kakariki horo noa, a battle fought in. Taranaki between Taranaki and Ati Awa. Colonel Gudgeon’s ac-count-of the fight is as follows: “That same night Tu whakairi kawa, who had been chosen as war chief of the tribe, dreamed a very strange dream. It seemed to him that he alone kept watch over the assembled tribes, and while looking in the direction of the forest lie saw a. flock of Kakariki (paroquets) flying towards him as if in menace, and while preparing to defend himself frorii the enemies he suddenly became aware, that he was threatened from the rear, and turning towards the sea he saw an immense shoal of Kahawai swimming towards the shore. So vivid was the impression left by this dream that the chief, awoke and, knowing that he had received a warning from his ancestral gods, he roused his brother, who was a- tohunga and demanded an immediate interpretation, of the dream. When the tohunga had heard all the incidents of the dream, he called the leaders of the army together apd explained that the dream was clearly a message from the spirit world, and he warned them that shortly before dawn they would be attacked from the direction of the forest, and while so engaged would be assailed in the rear by the main body of Ati Awa, who by this disposition of their forces hoped to gain an easy victory. He further warned all of his men that the army were in great numbers and evidently prepared for them, hence it was necessary that they should use great caution. Above all he warned them that they should not scatter in pursuit of

the first party when they had defeated them, but should wait for the second and more serious attack. Shortly before dawn a furious onslaught was made on the Taranaki warriors, from the direction indicated by the dream; but the numbers and the prowess of the Taranaki men were too much for the Ati Awa, who, after a 'gallant staiid, were driven back and fled southwards. pursued by a small body of men who had been previously selected for the purpose, and who slew many of their foes in the Waitara river. The main body, ever mindful of their chief's warning, stood fast and awaited the real event of the day. Not for long were they left in doubt, for the main force of the Ati Awa, feeling certain of victory and anticipating only a feeble resistance from a disorganised and scattered force, precipitated themselves on their foes. Of the truly Homeric combat that ensued I can only say that it ended in the. defeat of-the Ati Awa, who were driven northwards in headlong confusion and pursued- for many miles, the last man being slain at. Puke' aruhe, twenty miles from the field of battle.” (To be continued.)