Te Ana A Wai

Te Ana a Wai in South Canterbury was incorrectly recorded by surveyors in the 1860s as Te Ngawai River. The name Te Ana a Wai refers to the river being associated with some caves. In 1897 the Te Ngawai community was established but dispersed after World War II, and in 1963 Te Ngawai was replaced on the map by Camp Valley and Limestone Valley.

In 2006, the New Zealand Geographic Board received a submission to replace Camp Valley and Limestone Valley with Te Ngawai.

At a meeting at Arowhenua with local kaumātua, it was decided Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua would oppose this place name proposal.

Although kaumātua were particularly grateful to the submitter in his attempt to reinstate Māori names in the South Canterbury landscape, they felt it would be inappropriate to support replacing Camp and Limestone Valley with Te Ngawai because it was clearly the result of incorrect spelling.

Kaumātua agreed it was important that if the Geographic Board was to "formalise" Māori names, those names must be consistent with the histories and traditions of manawhenua.

In a recent article with the Timaru Herald, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua representative Mandy Home says place names should be correct.

"Why perpetuate a mistake simply because it was more than 100 years old?"

Te Ana A Wai

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Te Ana A Wai

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