THE SOUTHERN MAORI.

Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 5

THE SOUTHERN MAORI.

STRAY PAPERS.

By

H. Beattie.

XIX—THE MUTTON BIRD AND OTHER ISLANDS.

In our last the writer and his readers took a swift trip round Stewart Island, glancing in passing at the Maori names of the coastal features as far as those names could be collected 20 years ago. It was possible to procure only a pitiful remnant of what could have been collected, say, 50 years ago, but better for tune is our portion in regard to the names of the numerous islands round and near Stewart Island, as the majority of these have been preserved, although sometimes in a dubious mutilated or incomplete form. The islands near Stewart Island as a rule are mutton bird haunts, and mutton birding has cast on them the spotlight of publicity, because the pursuit of the titi, «,or mutton bird, is the only ancient southern Maori activity which has continued to this day. The procuring and marketing of mutton birds is now a commercial industry, but it is not the purpose here to describe the notable yearly operation, but merely to name the islands as they come, whether they be mutton bird islands or not. Crossing Foveaux Strait from Bluff to Halfmoon Bay we came to Zero Rock, whose Maori name seems to be forgotten, nnd then the North Islands? - known to the mutton birders who go there as Piko-ma-maku. The southern one is called Piko-mamaku-nui, and the one near Zero Rock Piko-mamaku-iti, the names signifying “ big ” and “ small ” respectively. Pikomamaku means “ sprouts of the treefern,” piko primarily meaning “to bend,” and as the sprouts of this kind of ferntree are curly they are knbwn as piko. The next. island is on the map as Motunui (big island), but all my informants agree that this is a misprint for the correct name Hotunui, which means “ great sobbmg," but is here probably an ancestral name. The next island is PukeOkaoka (nettle hill), and Fish Rock, between here and Stewart Island, has the Maori name Te-kahui-ao Boat Refuge Island is usually called Marama nowadays because it was owned in the sealing period by Te Marama, the father of the wellknown John Topi, but its real Maori name is Herekopare, which is merely a shortening of Te-hereka-o-te-kopare-o-te-mahihi (the binding of the head-band of Te Mahihi). This lady visited the locality centuries ago and the graceful knob which crowns the summit (Te Tihn of the island was said to resemble her bound hair, hence the name. The north-east point of the island is called Kuri (the native dog), and the southern point Te-upoko-o-tamairaki (the head of Tamairaki), and two of the bird reserves or divisions on this island are called these two names, another is Te Tihi, another is Hotunui, whilst a fifth one is Te-ahi-o-pere (the fire of Pere). It would be as well, perhaps, to explain here that when a mutton-birding party land on an island they go to work methodically, and instead of each member being allowed to range indiscriminately where he likes, he is allotted a set portion. These divisions are called manu, and each one has a hereditary name. The wakawaka, or boundaries, between them are natural features such as gullies, creeks, ridges, trees, or rocks, and no one is permitted to trespass on his neighbour’s section. When a mutton-birder becomes familiar with his ground he is given that allotment year after year, for an iiitimat° acquaintance' with his domain enables him to gather many more birds than a stranger would.

East of Rerekopare lie some islands marked on the map as Fancy Group The largest one of these the Maoris call xi.ami-1-te-raki, and the most southerly °ne Kani-te-toe, or Kane-ti-toi. The large Bench Island was called Te-wahi-taua because tradition asserts a war party were forced to land there, presumably on a voyage from Ruapuke to the Neck, but the writer could get no particulars. The name is often shortened to vV aitaua. Passage Island was called by the Maoris Whera after a woman of rank who once visited it. Native Island right in the mouth of the big Paterson Inlet, was called Wharawhara, and is said to bear extensive evidence of ancient occupation.

Paterson Inlet Tamihau bears a Native name, but the writer tried in vain to secure the M~ori names of the islands called by us lona, Faith, Hope, and Charity, Tommy, Goat, Crayfish, Groper, and Bravo. The Maoris call (Jiva Tiniko, and several of them could not sav if it was a genuine name, but an old man assured me it was the Maori pronunciation of Sydney Cove, a bay on its north a l , . namea after an old sealing ship. A L ta ,® se islands are near The Neck, and all must have borne ancient and honourable Native names, but these are all apparently lost. Continuing our voyage down the coast we pass Pihore Island, Pukeweku Island, and Entrance Island. The last-named was known as Tia, which my informant said meant “ a slave.” The Maori names of the Breaksea Group have all been preserved, and are a fairly formidable lot. One of'the aged owners went through the list with me. and they, run:—Raka-waha-kura, Pcmotuatua, Taki-wiwini (trembling cry), Poho-mataki-a-rehua, Kai-huka (east snow), and Te Whare-o-puaitaha, to which he gave the poetical. translation the house of storm.” He said Owen Island was Horo-mamae (painful swallowing) , and was so-called' because of an incident among an early 'party 1 of explorers where one of them nearly choked over some piece of bone or food.’ . The writer could get nb Maori names for White Rock and Black Rock, and scarcely any for the islands near Pegasus. After much futile interviewing a very old man said that either Pearl or Anchorage Island was Kaninihi, and an island near it Tari-a-kiwa. Others of my informants said the small islet near Stewart Point in Wilson Bay was Kaninihi. and they gave the name of the island off Small Craft Retreat as being Moutere-o-taare (Charlie’s Island—a modern name). Murphy Island, near South ape, was given to me as Mawhi, which is another modern name, and simply a transliteration of its English, or Irish, name. Rounding the south of Stewart Island We first come to Evening, Island,' whose

Maori name is Poutama, although frequently rendered Potoma. Starting from the landing place the manu (sections) on it are;—Tutetaihuka, Kiwha, Onetu (standing sand), Puku-haruru (rumbling stomach), Manu-kiaka (lean birds), Pau-upoko (hit on head), Tamateraki, Ereka-paraoa (tie up the weapon). and Inekakai. It must be remembered that the southern Maori is as bad as a Cockney at deleting, and sometimes add; ing, the aspirate, and in standard Maori the last two names would read Herengaparaoa and Hine-kakai.

The Maoris now resort to the law courts to decide who shall have access to the various islands, and to determine any disputes, but in the “ good old days ” some hot exchanges of words and blows ' occasionally occurred. Thus a row occurred over Poutama, and bloodshed threatened. Someone with admirable foresight wetted the powder of an old muzzle-loader, which was too handy for sofety, and when the owner went to use it on his adversaries the gun naturally failed to respond. A boat of one party was loaded with rocks and sunk, and one of the eontendants, Te Haukunui by name, swam the mile of sea which separated him from Long Island. Things were generally interesting for a while, but the rough and ready justice of the wilds prevailed, and everything righted itself. The next island, officially known as Long Island, is always called South Cape by the “ old hands,” and to distinguish it from the official South Cape on Stewart Island they designate it Big South Cape. The Maoris also now call it South Cape, softened in their tongue to Tau Kiepa, but its correct name is KanaWera. Some young Maoris who had been mutton bird* ing on this island kindly endeavoured to give the writer a list of the manu on it, and after much cogitation managed to rake together nine names. Five years later the writer met and asked one of his aged friends about this island, and without any hesitation he ran over 18 names as follows: —Puwai, -Parakiore, Kaikaiawaru, Hinekuha, Rahui, Potihapa (this is■ “ Boat Harbour” Maoricised), Te-updko-o-matiaha, Puketakohe, Heretatua, Te Maru, Takitu or Taketu, Poho-o-hine-a-raw aru, Te-upoko-o-potete, Pau-upoko, Waitakua, Tukoroua, Kairere, Hapua-a-tpto. and then back to Puwai. The young people gave me Te Maru as Timaru, Puwai as Puai, Upoko-o-potete as Potted Head, and Potihapa as plain Boat Harbour, all helping to show the way English is creeping in more and more—in fact, very little Maori is now used on the islands, and then only by the handful of old people. Which of these names belongs to Murderers’ Cove on Long Island the writer cannot say, but an interesting story ie attached to the name Here-tatua (tie belt). A canoe was wrecked, and after a long, cold and exhausting swim a man (name not stated) reached Long Island at a rocky part. He was too tired to swim further, and too enfeebled to pull himself up the rocks, but a friendly tree bent a handy branch down, and he managed to slip off his tatua (belt), attach it to the branch, and clamber ashore, hence the origin of the name. A hill on Long Island is called Te-mauka-kam (the catching of Kani), because a man named Kani was chased, and was overtaken on its summit. The only other note the writer has about Long Island is that a man named Kuao owned a whare (house) on it in the early days. Immediately north of Long island ie : Solomon Island, known to the Maoris as Kere-whaka-upoko, and north of it is Pukeweka (woodhen hill), and north of this again is Kai-mphu. West of Solomon Island is Hidden Island, known to the Maori as Putauhinu, and near it an islet called Huirapa, ■ these two being named after two sisters tamous about 300 years ago. West of Hidden Island is Wedge Island, and its correct Maori title is one of the conundrums of island lore. Not to weary the reader with all the variations, let two suffice, and they are Te-mai-o-te-mioko, or Te-mahi-o-te-moko. The island is also called Te-poho-o-waitai (the breast of Waitai—who was a celebrated fighting chief over three centuries ago), but’it is probable this is either the name of the boat landing on the island or of one of its most prominent titi (mutton bird) sections. North of Hidden Island lies Moggy Island, whose Maori name is Moki-nui, while a small islet, Moki-iti, lies off it to the northward. Coming back into Stewart Island again the little island to the south of Easy Cove is Kakokau. and the islet to the north of the same cove is Te Maka, but the writer could get no Maori names for the two islands called The Brothers and lying further out. Proceeding north to the Boat Group. First Island was to the Maori Kani, and what the “ old hands ” call Bates’ Island, but which is marked on the map as Return Island, had the Maori name Te-moutere-o-te-wharerimu (the island of Te Wharerimu). Stage Island was Te-poho-o-tairea (the breast of Tairea—a famous navigator six centuries ago), and the island south of it Timore. Stage Island was given by the Maoris to the sealers Spencer, Brown, and Chaseland for their Native wives, and no other Maoris were allowed orb it. If Maori men were on the returning boats they were not allowed to proceed to Stage Island, but werelanded at Timore. Coming to the Earnest Islands, off the south end of Mason Bay, the astonishing fact is that no Maori names can be found for them, although one is a Native reserve One of my esteemed old friends was born on “ Mason Island ” in 1843, yet neither he nor any of the other old people can give any name but Mitini or Metini, which 1 is simply an adaptation of the name "Mason.”

Passing on northwards, we pass an islet nearly awash,.and known to the Maori as O-rua-kotuku, and then we come to Codfish Island, whose correct Maori name is Whenua-hou, although Sealers’ Bay is called Kopi, and this name is often applied to the whole island. It is most probable that Kopi is merely a native rendering of the word “ codfish.” Rugged Islands do not seem to have preserved any Maori nomenclature, although on Stewart Island itself, opposite them, stood the pa Putatara in- the old fighting days, and here took place about the only recognised fight that occured in Stewart Island history. And now we have circumnavigated the island for a second time, but one or twofurther notes may be appended. The writer could not place islands said to be ca'lea Te Maremai and Torekapa. The origin of the name Moggy Island was a

matter of conjecture to my informants. It could have been named because of the weather, or it. may be a corruption of Moki, . which is its Native name, and which is said to have been bestowed originally because of the prevalence of the moki fish there. One of my aged friends advanced the picturesque contention that the word Moggy was an uncouth way of saying Maggie, which he said was the name of a kanaka woman marooned there by a sealing K a , n K in the early days. The writer was told that behind Easy Cove lie two mounts known as Gog and Magog, which had correct Maori names, but, unfortunately, his informant could not recall them.

The Maoris usually know Pukeokaoka Island as Jack-o-Lee ” because a whaler known by this name kept pigs on it. It 18 °i ne islands which still belong to the Crown, and one aged Native cheerfully told the writer that he “ leased it from the Government to grow spuds on,” P.at’PK a peppercorn annual rental of 10 shilling*. The islets named The Snares by Captain Vancouver in 1791 are always called Timeheke by the present Maoris, but Mr W. H. 8. Roberts gives their correct Maori name as Te Taniwha. The dangerous rocks named The Traps by Captain Cook in 1770 were called Tuarara-pohatu by my informants. They pronounced this lualala-pohatu, and said the name meant undersea stones,” because their treacherous nature was known to the olden Maoris.

(To be continued).