New Zealand place names
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Zealand place names derive mostly from Māori and British sources. Most of New Zealand's natural features were named by Māori, often after heroes. Many Māori place names acted as memory aids, reminding people of particular stories or ancestors. When Europeans began arriving in New Zealand from the 17th century, and in greater numbers from the 18th century, they renamed many geographical features, often after places in Britain or important settlers or British people. Both peoples used naming as a way of asserting real or symbolic ownership over a place. This has been described as 'cultural colonisation'.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Māori names
There is no known pre-contact Māori name for New Zealand, although Māori referred to the North Island as Te Ika-a-Māui (the fish of Māui) and the South Island as Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of jade) or Te Waka-a-Māui (the canoe of Māui). Until the early 20th Century, the North Island was also referred to as Aotearoa, (often glossed as 'long white cloud'); in modern Māori usage this is the name for the whole country.
[edit] European names
Most European settlers in New Zealand were of British or Irish origin. Like many settlers, they attempted to make the unfamiliar new country 'homely' by giving familiar names to towns and landmarks. The vast majority of non-Māori New Zealand place names are British or (less often) Irish. Settlers used the names of places 'back home', respected people in Britain and New Zealand, and episodes from British history. Later they were more likely to apply existing Māori names to new settlements.
The first European visitor to New Zealand, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, named the place he visited Staten Landt, believing it to be part of the land Jacob Le Maire had seen in 1616 off the coast of Chile. Staten Landt appeared on Tasman's first maps of New Zealand. Hendrik Brouwer proved the supposedly South American land to be an island in 1643. The name was subsequently changed by Dutch cartographers to Nova Zeelandia, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. The Latin Nova Zeelandia became Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch. British explorer James Cook subsequently called the archipelago New Zealand.
The 1840 Letters Patent establishing New Zealand as a British colony claimed that the 'principal islands' of New Zealand were by that stage commonly known as the Northern Island (North Island), the Middle Island (South Island) and Stewart's Island. The letters patent attempted to rename the islands New Ulster, New Munster and New Leinster after the provinces of Ireland,[2] and these names were also used for the initial provinces of New Zealand,[3] but they did not endure. Although the "South Island" initially referred to Stewart Island, the former Middle Island eventually took on that name. With the possible exception of Stewart Island, these names probably arose through common usage rather than official declaration.
Many places in New Zealand are named after the aristocratic patrons of settlement (for example Auckland and Mount Egmont), explorers (especially Captain James Cook, who gave his name to Cook Strait and Mount Cook), or members of the British Royal Family (for example the many places with the name Victoria, Queen, Prince or Albert). Royal names were more popular for streets than towns or geographical features, although there are at least two Mount Victorias in New Zealand. As colonisation progressed, many places took the names of leaders and early settlers. In most cases, for example Featherston, Hamilton, New Zealand and Seddon, these were respectable people such as politicians, but some were named after the less respectable. A good example of this is the Mackenzie Basin, which is named after a sheep-stealer.
A number of early New Zealand settlements have names drawn from British military history. These include Nelson and Wellington. Other places are named after British or Irish places, for example Canterbury, Cambridge, and Belfast. An unusual variation of this is Dunedin, which is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh. A few places were named after non-British places, for example Kirwee is named after Karwi in India. Later towns were often given the Māori name of their region or a nearby landmark, for example Whangarei and Taupo. There are few biblical place names in New Zealand, with Jerusalem being one exception.
European explorers sometimes named places after incidents which had occurred there. For example, Cape Kidnappers is named after a Māori attempt to kidnap on of Cook's crew members. Other places were named after geographical features, for example Whitecliffs and Island Bay. A few derive their names from descriptions in languages other than English or Māori. Two such are Miramar, which means 'sea view' in Spanish and Inchbonnie, which means 'beautiful island' in Scottish Gaelic.
[edit] Unofficial names
New Zealand and various parts of it have acquired a range of unofficial names over the years. Two unofficial late nineteenth century names for New Zealand were 'Maoriland' and 'God's Own Country'. The former was widely used in the labour movement, and an early labour newspaper was named the Maoriland Worker. The latter was popularised by Premier Richard John Seddon. Both fell out of popularity in the twentieth century, although God's Own Country is still sometimes used, usually semi-ironically. Many cities and towns have semi-official nicknames based on a prominent feature or one which promoters wish to emphasise: for example Christchurch is the 'Garden City' and Wellington is the 'Harbour Capital'. Auckland's nickname 'the Queen City' is of less obvious origins, especially since it predates Auckland's status as the gay capital of the country.
Following the release of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, New Zealand was sometimes referred to as 'Middle Earth' after the fictional setting of the films. Wellington, where the films were mostly made, was also sometimes called Middle Earth, and for about a week around the release of the first movie the local newspaper The Evening Post renamed itself The Middle Earth Post. The town of Matamata, where many of the Hobbiton scenes were filmed, also unofficially renamed itself Hobbiton. The arrival of the film industry into Wellington also led to the nickname 'Wellywood'.
A number of towns have acquired ironic nicknames. One such as 'Roto-vegas', intially coined to mock Rotorua by comparing it to the much more exciting Las Vegas, but since semi-ironically adopted by the youth of the town. British writer Lynn Barber picked up on the nickname while visiting the town and, apparently not realising it was ironic, wrote that "that's pushing it a bit - Roto Blackpool maybe".[4] Other towns have also acquired 'Vegas' nicknames, for example Wangavegas (Wanganui) and Stokes Vegas (Stokes Valley). Hamilton is sometimes jokingly referred to as 'Hamiltron: City of the Future', apparently after a real suggestion for a city slogan.
Other areas have nicknames based on abbreviation or mangling of the actual Māori name. Thus the Taranaki region is sometimes known as 'The Naki', Paraparaumu is commonly known as 'Paraparam' and Otahuhu as 'Otahu'.
[edit] Naming disputes
Most Māori have never been happy about the renaming of New Zealand's geographical features, and have campaigned to have the original names restored. This has been successful in a few cases, generally involving mountains, which Māori generally consider to be sacred. Mount Taranaki/Egmont was originally known as Mount Taranaki, but was renamed by Captain James Cook after the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont. In the 1980s it was ruled that the mountain had two official names, Mount Taranaki and Mount Egmont. Today it is generally known as Mount Taranaki. In 1998, and as a result of the settling of the Ngai Tahu Treaty claim, a mountain in the South Island was officially renamed Aoraki/Mount Cook. However it is still commonly known by its European name of Mount Cook.
From time to time Māori groups campaign to correct inaccurately spelled or pronounced Māori place names. In the early 1990s it was suggested the Wellington suburb of Hataitai be renamed Whataitai, as the latter refers to a taniwha (sea monster) who legends told had lived in Wellington harbour, and the former is a meaningless misspelling. More recently there has been a campaign to rename the town of Wanganui Whanganui. Wanganui is meaningless in the Māori language but it does reflect the dialectical pronunciation of local Māori, who pronounce 'wh' (normally an 'f' sound) as 'w'.
[edit] References
- ^ Byrnes, Giselle (2002), '"A Dead Sheet Covered with Meaningless Words?" Place Names and the Cultural Colonization of Tauranga', New Zealand Journal of History, 36, 1, pp.18-35.
- ^ Letters Patent issued on 16 November 1840 entitled 'Charter for erecting the Colony of New Zealand, and for creating and establishing a Legislative Council and an Executive Council', reproduced in W. David McIntyre and W.J. Gardner, eds, Speeches and Documents in New Zealand History, Oxford, 1971, pp.54-6.
- ^ New Munster initially included the bottom third of the North Island. See map on page 58 of McIntyre and Gardner.
- ^ Barber, Lynn, 'Just the spot... for jumping off a cliff', Guardian Unlimited, 27 May 2002: http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2002/may/27/newzealand.extremesportsholidays
