MAORI NAMES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 13 September 1927, Page 7

MAORI NAMES.

No. XXI

(By Rev. H. J. Fletcher.) -Modu eka, now a town and distric in Nelson province, was original!; Motu weka. One meaning of the won has been suggested; as “the clump o wood where the weka lives.” Hut tin words “weka” and “motu” come to get-her so frequently in a number o proverbs that one is inclined to 100 l upon the above with ,suspicion. “M< te- weka ka motu i te mahanga.’ “Like a weka escaped from the snare’ was one of the old Maori sayings known practically to all the tribes. Motu hinahina is the name of an island in Whanga lagoon, on the Chathams. Hinahina. is another name foi the common Taranaki tree known as “Mahoe,” usually called by the pakehn “white wood." Motu karaka was an island in the Hauraki Gulf near IJowick, where karaka is the name of the well-known tree. 4; " • Motu karamu was the. name of an old. pa on the Makati. Karamu is' the name of several varieties of Goprosnias, a small Xeiv Zealand shrub. Motu kauri va-s ;l place- in the- HoUianga harbour, named from the kauri tree. Motu knwau, shag island, is a fairly common name. Brown's Island, near Auckland, has two different spellings; one is Motu korea and the other Motu korehn. The late Mr. S, P. Smith always used the “Motu kore'liu,” so that tiiere can he very little doubt that it is the correct form. Tvorehu means haze, mist, or fog. •Motu nui is a common name in many p-arts, and it is- lioth an island and a clump of bush. Motu ngaio was a pa at Kawhia, overlooking the .site of the present township. Tt was named from a grove of ngaio trees. Motu ngaraja is the name of a small island near Kapiti, ngarara being ;i genera! term for lizards and insects. Motu ran is an old name for Mann i.-onri. It means “the hundred fsla nds.” There are so many places named “Motu roa” that it is not possible that all are from the meaning usually given, viz., long island. Motu roa. the old (I'd)ting pa near the present town of! U averlev, would be from one of- the I other meanings. 1 •Motu taiko. in Lake Taupo, is gannet island. Motu tapu, sacred isle, is a- common name that has been localised in several places in New Zealand. The earliest reference seems to be that of Tinirau’s island. It was the pet whale of Tinirau that was killed by Kae. The store is so far hack that it is now impossible to give even an approximate date for . its origin.

Motu tere is another word used for island, but it also means something broken or cut off short. There is a place on the eastern .shore of Lake la u po with this name. It is a rounded hill with steep, precipitous sides all round, except where a narrow ridge connects it with the rest- of the country. About 120 feet above the present level of the lake there is the welldefined mark of an old lake level, and when the lake was at this height the higher portion of the hill was an island. But we have no knowledge that there were any human inhabitants in New Zealand when it- was. an island. Gould the Maoris have understood wliat is now well known to geologists, the much higher lake level in olden time. We wonder. tere is -still anoujer form ox these wot us xor isianu; it is tne name ox xi place in toe xitiuiaanu piowiice, uxia -uoutere nui, uie mg island, «a,s an ancient name tor Stewart island. Mou tonora ts an island in tne nay at i'teiui, ot winch tne lenuering, uttaie island ,is correct. -'tun is a word with many dii lie illties. in its primary sense tt means tne rear, belli ml, inter, aiterwurds, and other similar meanings, but- there are other meanings having no. -onneetion with cite primary meaning apparently. lliem tiiere are compounds ivnioli seem to have no connection wit.fi any of the simple forms. Muri .liiku is the Maori name of what is known to pakena.s as southland, of the South Island of -New Zealand. As explained by the late Robert AlcNab, m his hook called “Mu-ri-niku,” it- means the last joint of the tail. Or, as we would say, the tail end oi the land. Muri motu is the name oi two widely separated places. One is the open country around the southern end of tile Kaima.ua.wu range in the interior of the North Island, and the other a place near the North Cape. -Muri j-anga whenua i.s a localised name, it first appears in -Maori story as an' ancestor of Maui, then as the name of -Maui’s, fish hook, which was made of his- ancestor’s jaw bone. It was with this magic hook that Maui

fished up the North Island from the depths of the sea. It appears as tiie name of the wife of Tangihia, son of the famous priest Nga Toro i ran-gj. As a place name it is also known as the fish hook of Maui (To Matau a Maui), Te Mahia, Hawke’s Bay. The meaning suggested for the name is ‘■gentle land breeze.’’ Muri wai is another of the imported names, tor its first appearance is as the name of one of the crew of Mataatua. Jt has since been used as a personal name, and it is still the name of a seaside resort near Auckland. The common meaning of Muri wai is ‘‘a. hack water.’’ “a lagoon at the month of a river.” It is also the name of a shell fish. Muri wai hon is a very ancient name for the under world or Hades. Muri whenua is the name of the (mint called by the pakeba North Cape. In the “Peopling of the North.’’ by the late Mr. S. P. Smith, it is spoken of as “Tbe land's end.” This is a very good rendering of the term. ords beginning with “N” are not so numerous as most of those of the other letters. This is true also of both personal and place names. There- are not- many as compared with the others. Nainu is a well-known Taranaki name. It was the name of an old Taranaki pa that saw .a lot of fighting in the days of the tribal fighting. Nainu is the- Maori name of the sandfly. and it enters into the composition of such worths as Maunga. nainu, Sandfly hill. Puke nainu same meaning. Nainu it.i, the little samlfly, was another Taranaki pa. Nilio is a word meaning “tooth.” and from it there are several others, as “a thorn.” and “the edge of a weapon.” As a personal name on a Ngat-i Tea line it appears as the name of both a man and a woman. Nilio manga, shark’s tooth, was the name of a battle fought between Ngai Tabu, of the South Island, and Te Baunaraha. with his allies, in which Ngai Tabu was beaten. Re-re waka. a Ngai Taliu chief, who bad boasted

that lie would- rip Te Ran para ha open with a “nilio manga,” was taken prisoner and cruelly put to death. The light took itxs name from the unfortunate man’s boast. Nilio o te kiore, the tooth of tile rat, is the name of a hill near Atiatnuri. There is another place of the same name near Rotorua. The origin of the name is- given by Shortland a.s . follows: “Ihenga, one of the crew of Te • Arawu, discovered and explored the lakes. Roto rim. and Roto iti. On his return his wife ran down to the water , side as the canoe touched the beach. ‘See what food you have- lying there,’ said Ihenga. Hine te kaka-ra caught up the bundle of rats-, and when she saw their teeth she exclaimed: ‘F. E, he nilio kiore’ (eh, eh, a rat’s tooth). So the place was named Te Niho o te kiore.” Nilio puta was the name of the Ati Awa migration from Taranaki .south-1 wards. The origin of- the name is I I given in “The History and Traditions ot -the Taranaki Coast”: From Pa-tea I they travelled by the .sandy beach to I Waitotara, and then went inland to Tel Ihu pukti pa. Arrived there, some oi l the Nga. Rauru people were met with, who received the party in a friendly I manner and induced many of them till visit and be their guests, under the I pretence of being -hospitably entertain-1 ed. Aware that a massacre was in-1 .tended, Tama a -akina of Nga Rauru warned tho- strangers to keep together I land not to go to separate villages. I Owing, however, to the- pressing invit-a- I tion-s? of Nga Rauru this good advice ! )vas neglected, and the party dispersed! hi twos and threes to .various houses. I his was just what Nga, Rauru wanted;! it enabled them to take their guests ini detail; nor were they long about it, fori directly the separation took plate they! •commenced killing tho strangers in several places at once without the others being aware of what was going on. One man of Nga Rauru came to a! house where several of the strangers) were-, together with a number of the local people. He said: “Ku patua noatia t-aku nilio puta mo te rurenga” I (“my pig with tusks has long since I been killed for the guests”), which was the signal to the others, who then rose and killed nearly all the strangers | within the house. They attacked and killed many, of us. hut the hulk escaped.”

Niho whati was the name of a Ngati Ijiikeko pa in Tahoe land. It -seenis ■obvious that it means “broken tooth/’ Xuka is a, name in fairlv common use by itself, and it is also the beginning of many compounds. In mytholoo-y it- is the name for the earth. ‘Also as a noun it has the meaning of “wide extent” and “distant”; as a verb it means “move” or “extend.” Xuku mai tore was the name of a people appearing in some of the oldest stories of the Maoris. From the various stories one would get the idea that there is the memory of the tree dwelling monkeys mixed up in the different- versions. Xuku ma.rae roa was a chief in Hawaiki Jong prior to the great Heke. The one explanation on record is not satisfactory. Xuku roa is an old name of New Zealand. Nuku tahuna. is the name of a sandbank in the Kaipara harbour. In the absence of definite information as to how the place got its name we may suggest that it- is from Nuku, to move, and Tahuna, a .sand bank.

Nuku tai memeha was the name of the canoe used by Maui when lie was out on the famous fishing expedition which resulted in the pulling up of the North Island of New Zealand- from the bottom of the sea. The name has been translated as •laud of the receding sea.” This suggests- that the canoe was- named in memory of the exploit. . Xuku tawhiti was one of the old explorers; lie came to New Zealand as captain of the Mamari. There have been others bearing the- name, but its exact meaning has not been plated on .record. Nuku tere was the name of a canoe in which some of the ancestors of the Poverty Ray people came to Ao tea roa. Words beginning with “Nga” are numerous, for in addition to the Genuine words there are a large- number of which “Nga” is simply the sign of the plural. Ngaere is a well-known Taranaki word. It was the old name of a swamp to the east of the present railway station of the same name. The word i.s a descriptive one. meaning to quake or oscillate. A Ngati Awa chief bore the name of .Ygahau. which means brisk. Nga hua was the name of a chief who was treacherously killed, by the Ngapnlii just TOO years ago. H-e was otherwise known as Te Maunu. Following a custom that was exceedingly common among the Maoris, his wife’s not name for him was Nga hua. The reason for the use of the'name is not recorded, but the most likely rendering is ‘fruits.” ■’ Nga bn a hou was the‘name of a pa -ir the Thames; it might he given as “new fruits” and. Nga -hua. riki. “smallfruits,” a place in the South Island.

(To he continued.)