HAURAKI PLAINS PLACE NAMES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5400, 15 March 1929, Page 1

HAURAKI PLAINS PLACE NAMES.

(Written for “The Hauraki Plains Gazette ” by W. P- Wydle.) Kerepeehi, the) seat of the Lands Drainage Department on. the Hauraki Plains, is spelt with two. “e’s” in

the middle syllable by that branch pl

the Government service, but only one “e." is uscdi by the Post and Tejejy.raph Department and the Education

Department... In an endeavour to ascertain which is correct, extensive

investigation made by this paper

points to the two “e’s' being correct. It is helped t'.'a.t, should any of our readers have any information which will throw further light on the subject they will make it known. A» lime passes the collection of this information becomes more difficult, and! its reliability more diflic,ult bt establish. It is not asserted that the derivations of the place-names given here are correct. They may be Quite wrong, for with the intermingling of tribes with different dialects, and the passing away of those Maoris who were c.ouvqrsant with the incidents that gave rise to the names —for many of th,e incidents were'vit-ry trivial, and it wat-j customary to name every single physical feature of the land—the literal interpretation of. the name means n'othing in some cases, wJule in others it is so obscured hs to prevent an intelligent pronouncement by present-day Maoris. In .such cases the Maori will say that the names aixj just names as inexplicable as many English ones. KERBPEEHI Some years ago the settlers of the Hauraki Plains held a reunion at Kerepeehi, and there was present an aged Maori who, on being. as.ked to speak, volunteered through an int(erpreter to explain how Kerepeehi got its name. Mr J. Kidd intenn'eted to the best of his ability, and from him thq following account was recently obtained.

IL was told that many years ago the tribe which inhabited the land about Kerepeehi was attacked by a- tribe which Cfime up the river in canoes. On sighting the attackers, the, local concentrated on the more advantageous position at the top of the Kaikahu hill, near where Mr H. D. Jamieson’s house now stands. The att.ac.kers, were see.ll to, land! near where the old flaxmill onccj stood and make' their way through the swamp on the flat now known as the racecourse. Not knowing the district, the attackers became, detached into small parties as. they made their yf&X through the swamp and denst raupo. This, fact was conveyed to the local natives on the hilltop by the movement of the raupo, and seeing the opportunity, the local natives, who knew every track through the swamp, fell on these small parties one by one and practically exterminated the invaders. Some few prisoners werej taken, and these were conducted to the hilltop and slain. Their bodies were, left to be ea.ten by the; birds, and thjis the hill became known as, Kaikahu, that is, “hawks’ food.”

Fearing that some may 'have escaped, the local natives proceeded to the river and seized the) invaders canoes, and thus this part of. the district was called “Ke Te peehi,” which meant “to seize,” or “to hold down, or “to impound.” The alteration of Ke Te pephi to Kerepeehi. was a small one, due probably to the intermingling of tribes with different dialects; bufi if the foregoing is the correct foundation for the name the use of the double “e” seems justified. ngatea. Two of the atta-king natives bad been seen, to escape by swimming the river and fleeing northward. To cut them off the local Maoris paddled down-stream to the shell bank in what is now the Ngate©; schoolground, as all tracks led tps this old camping place. Here the two escapees, were ambushed and their hearts, lungs, and livers hung on the trees. Nga Ate,, meaning the heart of, a man, thus became the name of the place from then on. Present-day Maoris say that. Ngar tea means the 'heart or the centre ot Hie Plains, but this is probably because they know that this version is pleasing to Ngatea people. The name of Ngatea only dates back to 1910. Prior to then it was known as “The Orchard,” on account of the peach and quince trees which had probably grown up from seed planted by Maoris in accordance with the instruction of the .missionaries, who taught the natives to plant, all frhit stones and pips in holes dug for the purpose with their big toes.

When a post office was to be established the question of a name arose, as: “The Orchard” was not acceptable to the department. The chief postmaster at Thames communicated! W means of the Lands Drainage Department’s private telephone line with Mr J. Bratlie, who was to be appointed postmaster, andl asked that suitable names be submitted. Among the names suggested by Mr Bratlie was the old Maori name of Nga Ate; but whether the chief, postmaster misunderstood him —he being a. Norwegian, and the telephone line being in poor order—or whether investigation brought, to light the fact in an early plan of the Piako swamp the drainage engineer of the day, Mr JB. Thompson, had previously corrupted the name, to Ngatea, is not known, but that wag t;,he name selected for the post office by the department.

(To be continued on. Monday.)