STUDY OF PLACE-NAMES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17038, 11 May 1923, Page 13

STUDY OF PLACE-NAMES.

HISTORY OF OCCUPATION. 44 At first the study of place-names seems a barren subject but they all contain a history,” said Air Johannes O. Andersen, of Wellington, last night in an address at a meeting of the New Zealand Historical Association on '* Place-names of Canterbury.” • Names and place-names of any country are practically the history of occupation of that country and are very enduring. For that reason although attempts have been made to give many of our rivers European names, in almost every instance the peop.e nave reverted to the Maori name.” The study of place-names would disclose that they were placed on a country in a series of waves. Each succeeding body of either settlers or explorers did a little of the place-names and generally if a person knew the reason why these names were given he knew the history of the settlement of the country. In Canterbury the first wave was rather difficult to define; it was produced by a Maori migration, connected ruth the almost mythical Te Arai te I ru. Aorangi, which was the name given to Mount Cook, was the name of one of the men in the canoe and the ranges were namedKirikirikatata, after the grandfather of Aorangi. When Maoris were asked why the grandson’s name was given to the mountain, while the elder man’s name was allotted to the less-important ranges, they reprrea; “The grandson is carried ■»»* we i shoulders of the grandfather 33

INFLUENCE OF THE MAORI. Tracing the history of other names. Air Andersen said that Waitaki was at one-time Waitangi, while Rangitata was known as Rakitata. This was due to the influence of different tribes. The names in which the “ 3v ” took the place pf “ nga ” were those of the Ngatarnamoe, while the northern tribe the. Ngaitahu, brought the “ nga.” There were other instances of these influences. Maoris, as well as pakeha, would preserve the names of the original occupation, and so in adopting these names it became a question of pronouncing them either way, and this explained the double name such as Waitaki or Waitangi. In some cases there was a change from o ” to “ va. ’ What we called Lake W anaka war. once Oanaka (like Oamavui. FIRST EUROPEAN RECORDS. The first European names were these given by Captain Cook (which were not many in Canterbury). Then there was the advent of the whalers, which sometimes produced » name partly pakeha and partly Maori. An interesting example was Ohakoa. He had heard about twenty two different variants of vt. One explanation was that it was originally not a Maori, name but that it was go-ashore ; that the native attempt at pronouncing this was Ohakca. which subsequently became the name. The whalers left Caroline Bay. Magnet and Pegasus were whaling ships. Originally Pegasus Bay was called Cook’s Mistake.. The captain of the Pegasus was making a run down tho coast, and searched for the channel which, according to Cook, was supposed to exist between Banks Peninsula and the main land : he discovered there was none, and hence tlio name Cook’s Mistake. LANGUAGES INTERCHANGED. Names might be given which were intended to l>e Maori names, but because of their similarity to others they had been placed cm the maps as Eurojiean. One of these was a. not very important place in South Canterbury, Tycho Valley. Probably the man who placed it on the map thought of the astronomer, but in reading an account of the capture of the freebooter, Mackenzie, said Mr Andersen, he

found that one of the Maoris in the party was Ta.ikoi. He was employed in a valley there herding sheep, and tl>e place was known to the Rhodes family and others as Taikoi Y alley. This was an interesting instance of

whero a Maori name had taken a Enropeau form. In another case the change was in the opposite direction. The stage between Selwj-n and Rakaia was rather large in the early days, so it was the custom to have a camping place at a gully midway between the two. where the billy was bciled. Travellers knew it as " Tea-oli ” Gully. The early surveyors, having been instructed to preserve the native names, and knowing 44 tio ’’ as the native oyster, they made it Tio Gully, though anyone should have known there would be no oysters so far inland.

A case where a European name had lived in a different form was that of the Styx River. This was called the Purarekanui. The crossing was a difficult one, and some flax sticks were erected to denote the correct place to ford the river. Travellers were told to cross the Purarekanui at the “ sticks.’from that it became Styx, demonstrating how a name- had been living in two forms in the human mind. Certainly the river was dark and dangerous, but it appeared that it was not the original intention to give it the classical name There was a swamp above Rakaia Gorge called “Terrible Billy.” In endeavour ing to ascertain the origin of this name he had heard how a station hand had to fight a bull named “ Terrible Billy ’ at this spot. Another and possibly the more likely solution was that a cadet on a station, who had a classical edu cation, named the spot “ Palus Terribilis,” which became pronounced for freedom Terrible Billy. There was a case outside Canterbury In which Shotover had come from the French “Cha teau verre.” Once these names appear ed on the map they were permanent, whether they were right or wrong. Maori place-names were mostly de scriptive, but it was very dangerous to say exactly what the individual parts of a Maori place-nan# meant. It was almost impossible to give the meaning unless one knew the history of the name. In Akaroa Harbour there was a place called Te iri R.angi patu paraoa a Taurewa. This was “ the hanging up of the whalebone weapon of Rangi (to signify the boundary of his territory) Another was Te iri Rangi a Kahukuru. but this meant the hanging up of" the image of Kahn, so it was difficult to state at first sight what was intended by names such as these. Many of the Canterbury names, such as Havelock and Clyde and the Sir Colin Campbell Glacier (since renamed!, were commemorative of people. The ones mentioned were given bv Aelaml. one of the original settlers of the hill country. Haast gave the names of scientific persons to many peaks, and he was cosmopolitan in his choice, freely bestowing the names of successful scientists in other countries as weLl as his ATTEMPTS AT HUMOUR. There was one c-lass of name freely given which Mr Andersen regarded as an abomination. Dealing with names in the Aniuri district we came across Neschaker and another was Foible Creek. These struck him as being very strange and he could not find the origin until he got on to the track of the surveyor who made the original survey. ’1 he survey party, lie learned, gave this name to a steep hill because they found that w hen going up with their pack and instruments they found it was a “ kneeshaker.” Mr Andersen confessed lie warj disappointed at the outcome of this and also with the result of his inquiries concerning Foible. The creek was so called because a man named Foy shot a bull there. This was a class of humour he could not appreciate. There

was one. however, which he had relished. It was a story relating the origin of the name Rangitata. It set out that Rangi was a chief who had «i dwelling in the high mountains at the head of the river. His wife left on a journey and Rangi, comfortably seated, watched her go along the trail. When the wife got to the furthermost point from which it Avoiild have been possible to see her husband she turned round arid, waving her hand to him, said: “ Rangi, ta-ta.” Of course, said Mr Andersen. amid laughter, it was not intended to be a true explanation.

Before closing his remarks Mr Andersen reiterated -that the whole study of piace-nsmies was teeming with, life:

every name bad a story. He did not like to see old names go. A new one had no meaning and no his tor v or associations. Mr Anderson was asked for an opinion on the theory that Ha kata ra mea had come from : Haec est- terra men (“ this is my land ”). He stated he had it on good authority that the Maori name was correct. The Maoris in that district used to dance a. liaka, wearing skins scented from the i.aramea. and therefore it was called Hakat&ramea.. After a number of other questions were answered a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Andersen, on the motion of Professor J. Macmillan Brown.