Sturm's Gully on Mataruahou is now also officially known by the Māori name Karetoki Whare, a name that is currently recognised first on signage around the area. Photo / NZME
Sturm's Gully on Mataruahou is now also officially known by the Māori name Karetoki Whare, a name that is currently recognised first on signage around the area. Photo / NZME
Napier's Bluff Hill, Hospital Hill and formerly Scinde Island are all now officially recognised by the Māori name, Mataruahou.
The enactment of the Ahuriri Hapu Claims Settlement Bill has ensured that several places will be officially geographically recognised by their Māori names to recognise the traditional, historical and spiritual associationsof Ahuriri Hapū with places and sites owned by the Crown within the Ahuriri Hapū rohe.
Napier City Council said Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa, the authority responsible for making place names official, will be making sure the new names are properly recognised in writing and online, while the council will work on the ground.
"We are currently preparing four interpretation boards that will explain the stories of Mataruahou and will be situated at our site there when the fence is put up," a spokesperson for NCC said.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said she believes reinstating the traditional name is the right and correct thing to do.
"That area was called Mataruahou a long time ago and the name was still used when Europeans arrived here. It has a beautiful meaning and story attached to it. Other names used for the two hills have been functional or linked to places and stories that are not from here."
Sturm's Gully on Mataruahou is now also officially known by the Māori name Karetoki Whare, a name that is currently recognised first on signage around the area. Photo / NZME
The area locally known as Sturm's Gully on Mataruahou is now also officially known by the Māori Karetoki Whare, a name currently recognised first on signage around the area.
Karetoki Whare is the area that Pania took her human husband, according to Māori myth.
Lyn Sturm, a descendant of the F W C Sturm that the gully was known for by Pākehā, said she had a stake in both names as someone who also had Māori whakapapa, and is happy for the name Karetoki Whare to get more recognition.
"That's OK to come first, because that would have come first," she said.
Several places are recognised by their Māori names to recognise the traditional, historical and spiritual associations of Ahuriri Hapū with places and sites owned by the Crown. Photo / NZME
Bluff Hill Bed and Breakfast owner Kitty Bruin-Langbroek said she is happy to hear about the settlement's recognition of the original names.
"As an immigrant who moved to New Zealand in 2008, I respect the Maori traditions, history and spirituality and am happy to be informed that the Ahuriri Hapu rohe has come to a settlement with the Crown about recognising the original names," she said.
The business has obtained the domain name www.mataruahou.co.nz for future use, but short term won't be changing the business name.
"I am not considering changing my name at this stage as I think Mataruahou refers to the whole area of the hill. Also, I think for the next 20 years people will still refer to our area as Bluff Hill."
