A LIST OF TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY PLACENAMES of THAMES & SURROUNDS
Reference:
Te
Takoto O Te Whenua O Hauraki Hauraki Landmarks by Taimoana Turoa
Edited by
Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal
NB. The
following information and quotes are solely from the above book. For full
details and to ensure 100% correct context please read the book; it is a very
thorough history of the area through the placenames researched
Contemporary
Name |
Place Name |
Translation |
Background |
KARAKA |
Te
Karaka |
‘the grove
of karaka trees’ |
Noted
that Karaka trees still line the stream. “Te Maunu, a high-born chief of
Ngāti Maru, resided at his place and owned extensive cultivations.” At
the latter part of the 18th century, where the present hospital
stands, lived Ngāti Maru Chief Hauāuru. |
KAUAERANGA |
Te
Kauae-ranga |
‘the
stacked row of jawbones’ |
The name
has been given various meanings over the generations. “Te Kauae-ranga
originally commemorated the stranding of a pod of whales in the area.” Later
relates to “fallen Ngāti Huarere Chiefs,” the name referring to a row of
jawbones set out following a battle. At the mouth of the Wai-whakaurunga
River was a large pā (where the present town stands). “In 1842 this area
was given the name Shortland after the then acting governor of New Zealand
Willoughy Shortland, transliterated by Hauraki Māori as Hoterini. The
Ngāti Maru chief Te Hauāuru Taipari also adopted the name Hoterini
(Shortland) and called his son Tīkapa, Wirope, after Sir Willoughby.” |
MOANATAIARI |
Moana-taiari |
‘waters
of the taiari (a species of small shark)’ |
“This was
an early pā.” |
NGARIMU
BAY |
Ō-Tohi |
Ō-Tohi:
‘The place of baptismal rites’ |
The
original name of the bay was Ō-Tohi. At the end of WWII the European
settlers of this new community were looking for a name acceptable to all.
Lieutenant Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngārimu of Ngāti Porou was “awarded a
posthumous Victoria Cross.” The residents got the approval of his parents to
name the bay after their son to commemorate his bravery. |
PARAWAI |
Pārāwai |
‘river
sediment and silt’ and ‘a finely woven flax cloak’ |
The tidal
rivers at Thames had been prone to flooding for generations, the flatlands
surrounding these waters built up with silt. “After each successive flood,
the land assumed the appearance of an outspread cloak mottled and streaked
with forest debris.” “Pārāwai was the site of the great
Marutūahu meeting-house Hotunui until the 1920s, when it was shifted to
the Auckland museum.” |
TAINUI
COVE |
Te
Anaputa-o-Tainui |
‘the
perforated rock of the Tainui canoe’ |
“The
Hauraki taniwha Ureia led the TAINUI canoe into the calm waters of the gulf
on its arrival from Hawaiki” and sheltered in Ureia’s Cave having moored
their canoe to an imposing arched rock. For many centuries the promontory
stood like a shrine “sadly most of this feature was destroyed when
nineteenth-century gold-mining brought road construction.” |
TARARU |
Te
Tararua-o-Hinetekakara |
‘the
exposed pubes of the lady of intoxicating fragrance’ |
Te
Tararua-o-Hinetekakara referred to the hill 695m high inland of Tararu
settlement. The hill was the source of sandstone used in the making of stone
implements and was extensively quarried by early inhabitants. Te Arawa chief
Kahumatamoemoe on seeing the exposed sides of the hill ‘wryly remarked that
it reminded him of certain physical features” of his daughter Hinetekakara. |
TE
PURU |
Te
Puru (earlier Te Āputa) |
‘the
blockage, the plug’ |
Te
Āputa (wide open flat land’) was Te Puru’s previous name. The Te Puru
stream originally went into to the sea south of present position, “a blockage
caused by a landslip upstream” caused waters to dam and when they burst the
stream was diverted to its present position. It was the Ngāti
Tamaterā tribal area. |
THORNTON
BAY |
Te
Wharau |
‘a
shelter (built for travellers)’ |
The name Te Wharau “was commonly used until
the postwar years when it gradually fell out of use.” IT is “physical seaward
boundary between Ngāti Maru to the south and Ngāti Tamaterā in
the north.” |
TOTARA |
Te
Tōtara |
‘the
native red pine’ (‘totara’ is also a poetical name for longstanding) |
An
ancient pā, part of 14 between Tararu and Kopu “built by the early
Ngāti Huarere before the invasion of the all-conquering Marutūahu
in the sixteenth century.” On 5/9/1821 Hongi Heke left the Bay of Islands
with 3000 warriors and began attacking Hauraki and Tamaki tribes. When they
reached Te Tōtara pā they fought the Ngāti Maru for 2 days,
before finally negotiating a peace. Heke left but then returned overland from
Tararu and they slaughtered the sleeping occupants. The site became tapu and
was “immediately abandoned” due to immense loss of life and spilling of
blood. This area was later developed as a cemetery for Thames. |
WAIOKARAKA |
Wai-ō-karaka |
|
Wai-o-karaka
was a section of Ngāti Maru, these areas had a pā, Kainga (village)
and cultivations. |
WAIOTAHI |
Wai-o-tahe |
‘the
waters in which the menses were cleansed away |
The
stream used to flow from the site of an old Ngāti Maru pā (Te
Koronae-iti) to the sea, but was diverted during the early days of the
goldfield. “When young women were experiencing their first menstruation, they
were placed under very strict tapu and were isolated from many of the daily
activities.” A special whare was built by the stream, and the waters used to
cleanse them. |
WAIOMU |
Wai-ō-umu |
‘the sea
waters shaped like a cooking oven’ |
Home of the Ngāti Tamaterā hapu,
“Scottish doctor and entrepreneur Logan Campbell” “lived with the people here
in 1840 and found them very friendly and obliging.” There were many pā
on the hills. Older Maori inhabitants use the spelling and pronunciation
“Wai-oumu” rather than Wai-ō-umu that was used since the 19th
century. |
WHAKATETE
BAY |
Whakatete
(earlier Ō-Toi) |
‘disputed
(land)’ |
When the
Maori land was being made for goldmining in 1867 there was disagreement of
ownership between different groups. Sub-tribes of Ngāti Maru claimed
ownership, the matter went to the Native Land Court and tribes agreed to
share the land eually. “Prior to this, the area was called Ō-Toi, the
place belonging (presumably) to the early Polynesian explorer
Toi-te-huatahi.” |