AO-TEA-ROA

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 26 April 1928, Page 10

AO-TEA-ROA

MAORI NAMES.

(By Rev. H. J. Fletcher.)

No. XXX. Poutii is a place name well distributed, but trie two best known being a pa on north head, Jvaipara, and a pa on the edge of Roto a Ira, where the . stream leaves the lake. The stream also bears the name of Poutu. It is said that the great priest, Nga Toro i rangi, when on.his way. to the ascent of Tonga riro, stood 1 there leaning on his staff. Pou, a, staff, and Tu, to stand. Pou tu te rangi is an old name in Maori story, so old that it is practically impossible to Say which is the oldest meaning. It is a name of a star that appears in autumn, hut which one is not known. The second month of autumn is also called Pou tu te rangi; it corresponds to our March or April. At this stage one cannot be sure whether the star was named from the month or the month from the star. Po wherikorilio is a name for the spirit world. Po whatu ao is one of the nights of the moon in the period between the last quarter and the period of the Hew moon. The meaning of the term is the night with the eye of light. The 1 woixl Pua, as part of a place, or personal name, is not to be translated without due thought. In some cases it is Pua, and in others Pu a. There are also many word® in which Pua is the first part. Pualia was a chief who was related to Te Raupa raha, and who took part in the wars of Te Rauparaha. on the south. The word may he translated as opening, or door. „ . Puaka. is the name' of a star, and Puaki is an abbreviation, of Puaki rangi. Pua kite reinga is l a. name hr a song; its real meaning is the Pua tree a Te Reinga. At Rarotonga a Pua tree grows at the leaping place of spirits. Pua manu is a. technical name for bird preserves. Pua manu is a bird tree, or part of a forest frequented by birds’. Pu atua was a very appropriate name given to a gun. It is composed of Pu, a trumpet, .and Atua, a demon. Pueru makii, the wet garment, was the name’ of a battle. Some' of Ngati Ira were besieged in their pa,, Pakaurangi, by some of Ngati Kahungunu. The pa "suffered badly for want of water, and some of the brave defenders used to venture out to dip. their thick flax garments in water and then to fight their way back again, so that the women and children 1 rnigbt suck the moisture from the wet garments'. Puhao rangi is an ancient name in Maori history. He appears as a demigod in the “Lore of the AVbave AYanauga/’, and one of the same name was an ancestor of Nga Toro i rangi. AVhite’s translation is inadmissible ( Puba; o rangi, breath of heaven), for the first portion of the word is Puhao, not Puba o. The meaning of Puhao is not given in the dictionary. Puha rau nui, large-leaved Puha, was the name of a pa in the Upper Rangitaiki Valley occupied by an ancient people known as Te Marangaranga. It was also the name of a wife of Toroa, the captain of Matatna. ...

Puhi is a word often used by itself as a name, but moi'e often as an abbreviation of much Longer names. One of the common meanings' of the word is plume, or bunch of fathers-. Puliia liui-a, the famous, beauty of Mt. Eden, would translate as bunch of huia feathers or liuia plume. • Puhi moana ariki, Puhi the sea lord, is often mentioned as the ancestor from whom the Nga Puhi take their name.

Puhi i-ere, waving plume, is l a name on a South Island genealogy. Puia is a word used for hot spring. It wais used in the Hot Lakes country as a pa at Whakarewarewa, and,, before the great eruption of. Taraivera, an island in Roto mahaiia. Puia whakaari is tlie name of White Island, in the Bay of Plenty. Pukaka. was an old pa now known as Marsha nd- Hill, New Plymouth. It was a great pa in the old Maori days,; hut during the Taranaki war of 1860-3 tlie top of the hill wais levelled off, and the site was used as Hie headquarters of the Imperial forces in Taranaki. Mr. S. P. Smith says that the meaning of Pukaka is uncertain, bait the probable explanation is • a buncli of kakas tied together by the neck for carrying purposes. Pu, bunch; kaka, parrot.

Te Puka o te waka o Maui is an ancient name for Stewart Island. Puka here is the South Island spelling of the North Island punga, an anchor. The term means .the anchor of Maui’s canoe.

The word Puke brings us to one of the commonest place names used in New Zealand. Its primary meaning is a hill, althoguh there are some exceptions. Puke aruhe, fern hill, was a pa in Taranaki that saw many a fight in the olden days. Puke haupapa, hill of snow, was an old name of Taranaki, now miscalled by pakehas A fount Egmont. Puke ho re. bare hill, is still the name of a; hill in Tahiti known to the Maoris before the migration.

Pukeko is a personal name derived from' the bird known to, Europeans as swamp hen. A chief of this name was the eponymous ancestor of Ngati Pukeko.

There are so many of these names beginning with Puke that no good purpose would be derived by mentioning all.. If the word following Puke be the name of something like a tree or bird it, would not be far wrong to translate as such. The following may be a guide, to others : Puke kotulcu, white crane hill; Puke maire, maire tree hill: Puke nikau, nikau hill; Puke rangiora, rangiora shrub hill; Puke

r t#rata, tarata shrub ' Mil, etc., etc. Pukiekie was an old pa within the bounds- of the present town of New Plymouth. The meaning is practically tlae same as that given for Pukaka above. It would be, a bunch of kiekie tied together for ease of carrying. , Pu kiore is a place name in luhoo land' and also in Rangitikei, not far north of Hunterville. In the absence of definite information we would suggest a bunch of rats as the probable meaning. ' ; Puku in a. large number of some cases has something to do with stomach. Puku atua, stomach of the demon, was - a chief of high rank at Rotorua; Puku Jiaruru, rumbling stomach, was the name of a Ngai Tabu hoy; Puku nui, large stomach. Many years ago the writer paid a. visit,»to Moawhango during some festivities which were held there. A r brass band .from Marten was in attendance. The' drummer was w maii of far more than the regulation size round the waist. Before the band had been there many .hours the drummer was called Puku nui, and when lie noticed the Maori boys using the term to describe him he was very anxious to know whv he had been singled' but for a special name. He came to me, and when he found 1 that the word referred to the size of his corporation he was greatly annoyed. In the Maori use of such terms there was no offence given or intended. There are several words where the true explanation of the meaning depends on the meaning of the syllable Pu. Pu is sometimes used as an intensive. In one of the stories about Hine nui i te po and Maui we find the term Pu niahara _ kore, which means, the very negation of thought. Puna, meaning a spring of water, occurs as the first part of many names. Puna a Hoiunea, Houmea’s spring, is a pond on the Huiaran range in Tuhoe land. Puna a Ruapu tahanga, Ruapu talianga.’s spiing, is a small stream on the Upper Whanganui. Puna is also used with the meaning of source. Puna, te waro is emblematic qf volcanic fires. Puna weko, in mythology, is reckoned as one of the sources of birds. Punga in many cases can be rendered by anchor. Punga o Mata,horna, the anchor of Matahorua, was a 'curious stone supposed to have been left at Porirua harbour by ICupe. After passing through many adventures and narrouly escaping utter destruction at the bauds- of pakelia vandals, it has now been placed in the care of the Dominion Museum authorities.

Punga o Tainui ~is the name of a shoal in Katikati harbour, and also, of a, mooring .stone near Miranda, in the Hauraki Gulf. , .

Punga punga is the word for pumice stone, but it was also supposed to be the name of an ancient caiioe.

Pungarehu is the name of a person in a very ancient story obtained fi;om the Ngai Tahu people of tlie South Island. The story includes incidents which must have occurred; long prior to the coming to New Zealand. The best-known modem, use of the word is that of the pa of that name in Tara•fiaki. It is one of the common words in ‘iise for ashes, but we cannot guarantee that it is correct in either of the above cases.

Pu o te i-angi depends for its meaning .on another meaning of tiie word Pu. There is a list of words along the ideas of centre, ‘heart, base, source, etc. Pu ote rangi belongs to one of that class. . i. . Pu o te toetoe, a home of Whaitiri, belongs to the same general idea. The centre of the toetoe is not far from the real meaning. ; Pu poipoi is a manufactured' name of,.very recent origin. It was a small field-piece mounted on wheels used; in the defence of Ngamotu pa in February, 1832. Poipoi means to move about. The other cannon used in the siege were Rua lroura, used to command the eastern side of the pa. One poto faced inland. Pu poipoi was moved us, occasion required, hence the name. There are various stories as to what happened, but the gun was overcharged and burst. The breech of the gun was discovered' when excavating for the foundations of the Mbtufoa Freezing Works, and is now in the, museum in New Plymouth. Pupu, with the meaning of bundle, is known in a: few words. Pupu aruhe, a Ngati aw a pa in the Bay, of-. Plenty, means a bundle of fern. But a large number have their meaning ( in Pupu, the general name for volute univalve, molluscs of the winkle type. Williams gives 13 of these in his dictionary. _ , Pupu mai nono is given in White’s collection of Tawhaki stories as a sjstei- of Tawhaki. Hare Hongi mentions the same relationship ill a valuable paper on “Wharekura and its Philosophy.” ’White’s story raises a number of questions we would like to ask if we knew of any person able to answer them. One portion of the story is as follows: “Hema l took to wife" Kare nnku, younger sister of Puku. She begat Pupu mai nono. IvVirilii and Tawhaki. Kare nuku remained with her children for some time. Hema went to the settlement of Paikea, Ivewa, and Ihu puku, and was . killed.” Every name . with the exception of Hema anti Tawhaki* is connected with the . sea : - even tlie name Tawhaki is applied on the authority of Sir Walter Buller to -the crested penguin. Of the other names Kare nuku may mean ripple on the shore; Karihi, a sinker for a nett Paikea, a, whale p .Kewa, the right whale; arid Ihu puku is a small species of seal. ... -.

The main question, we would like to ask is this. Was Piipu mini hona a sister of Tawhaki in the , ordinary meaning of that term, or is this story a cryptogram of which the key is lost? Most students of Maori lore have the idea, more or less, that real knowledge is hidden under most- of the strange' stories of the Maori people. (To he con tinned.)