TE AWAMUTU DISTRICT.
SOME MAORI PLACE NAMES. . » People who are not fiamiliar with the old times in this portion of the Waikato have often asked the meaning and derivation of place names in and around the district, and oftentimes the answers have been. wrong. We give below some information on that score, taken from Mr J. Cowan's book, "The Old Frontier," which volume makes an admirable Christmas present for old and young. Te lAwamutu: The end of the river; that is, the head of canoe navigation. Rangiaowhia: Beclouded sky. Kihikihi: Cicada, tree locust, Orakau: The place of trees. Paterangi: Fort of heaven; that is, the pa on the high part of the ridge, the skyline. Waiari: Clear water. Mangapiko: Crooked creek. , Te Rore: The snare. Mangatea (on the Manga-o-hoi, where the flourmill stood): White stream. Matariki: The Pleiades constellation; also reeds used for lining the interior of a house. Te Reinga (old village site behind the Roman Catholic church at Rangiaowhia) : Leaping, rushing; thus the place of leaping, the final departing place of the spirits of the dead. Hikurangi (the Rangiaowhia heights above the Manga-o-hoi; Gilford's hill; also a place on the Pirongia-Kawhia road): Skyline, horizon. Pekapeka-rau (swamp between HaSrini and RangiaoWhia): Place where the native bat was numerous. Tioriori (native village, near where the Hairini cheese factory stands): A kind of kite, made of raupo. TaH-ti-kua (the site of the Anglican church at Rangiaowhia): The farther ridge. Te Rahu: Basket made oti fiax. Te Rau-Kotare (Taylor's hill, or Green Hill): The kingfisher's nsgt (in hollow tree). JF Tauwhare (ancient pa on right bank of the Mangapiko stream, above Wai-ari): Overhanging. Tokanui: Great rock . Waikeria: Dug-out waterway, or a watercourse gouged out. -Otorohanga: 0, food carried for a journey; torohanga, stretched out. In explanation of Otorohanga Mr Cowan relates that according to a Ngati-Maniapoto tradition a certain warrior chief who set out from this spot for Taupo with only a very small quantity of food caused it by supernatural means to " stretch out " and to last until he reached his destination; the name.
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Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1585, 13 December 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)
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343TE AWAMUTU DISTRICT. Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1585, 13 December 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)
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