Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Hetana and Waari question -- solved?

My reference to the Hetana Hamlet in New Lynn as being one of only two out of six in Auckland from the Workmen's Homes scheme of 1902-1904 to retain a Maori name may be solved. Tonight, I spotted on Paper's Past a piece from the Otago Witness in March 1902 where they said:
"A new nomenclature is being founded in New Zealand. Evidently the musical Maori language is not adequate, and a northern paper reports that Hetana, Methuen, Plumer, Kitchener, and Cradock Workmen's Homes, near Auckland, will be open for selection on the lease-in-perpetuity system on the 22nd April."
Intriguing ... the writer lumped "Hetana" in with the English names, it seemed, and for mysterious reasons. After all, "Hetana" looks Maori, doesn't it?

Well, apparently it is, but the reason the New Lynn site kept the Maori name was because it is in honour of a person, and a European at that: Richard "King Dick" Seddon. From the Hawera & Normanby Star of 24 March 1899:
"According to the Manawatu Standard the following are the Maori names of the Maoriland Ministry: - Hetana (Seddon), Mikenihi (McKenzie), Waka (Walker), Katiman (Cadman), Tamihana (Thompson), Timi Kara (Carroll), Horihoni (Hall-Jones.)"
Elsewhere, I see that "Te Waari" was a nickname too -- for Sir Joseph Ward.

So, none of the Auckland hamlets in John Bollard's scheme ultimately bore truly Maori names -- all were named either for politicians of the day, or Boer War commanders.

1 comment:

  1. You are good real good. I like this post Ice it's really interesting.
    Storm

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