Westland Tai Poutini National Park Place Name Report
The report considered by the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) at its meeting on 27 March 2009.
- Katau Creek (new name)
- Tatawhaka Creek (new name)
- Komarupeka Creek (new name)
- Ngataus Knob to Katau Knob (spelling alteration)
General Background
The Department of Conservation is seeking to assign three new place names to creeks located in the Copland Valley, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, and to correct the spelling of a place name adjacent to the new proposals. The Department intends to install several bridges over waterways in the Copland Valley which are currently unnamed, and has asked that the three waterways be officially named in order to provide bridge names to be included on future Department of Conservation publications.
Although the streams are not large, for the sake of emergency services and recreational clubs, they may warrant naming.
The Department has consulted with local iwi, who have supplied information of the place names’ history and relevance to the area. Te Rūnanga o Makāwhio advises that Tatawhaka and Komarupeka commemorate the two sons of Ohinetamatea, who made the journey with her when she discovered the Copland Pass. The Pass took her descendants to the east coast before their return, a few generations later, back to Te Tai o Poutini.
Te Rūnanga o Makāwhio advises that Katau is a tūpuna name, which has reverted to the dialectal ‘k’, with ‘Ngataus’, being a corrupted plural of ‘Ngatau’. They consider the use of the name Katau would appropriately reflect the dialect of the area and their tūpuna name.
The Department has provided references to biographical information provided by Te Rūnanga o Makāwhio, and documentary evidence of consultation with the Westland District Council and Fox Glacier Community Council, who support the proposals.
No other features in New Zealand have the names Katau, Tatawhaka or Komarupeka. The Index of Māori Names by Henry James Fletcher, at the Waikato University website, provides a reference to Katau as being of Ngati Whare (an iwi of the central North Island) genealogy, but has no reference to either Tatawhaka or Komarupeka. The Reed Dictionary of Modern Māori (1995) defines ‘katau’ as ‘right-hand side’.
Early cadastral/topographic maps have shown the following through the years:
| NZMS 1, SO78 | Edition 1, dated 1970 | Ngataus Knob |
| NZMS 1, SO78 | Edition 2, dated 1977 | Ngataus Knob |
| NZMS 1, SO78 | Edition 3, dated 1986 | Ngataus Knob |
| NZMS 13, WES047 | Edition ?, not dated | Not named |
| NZMS 177, SO78 | Edition 2, dated 1974 | Ngataus Knob |
Some early survey plans show the following:
| SO 6392 | Dated 1881 | Not named |
| SO 527 | Dated 1891 | Not named |
Several very early historical maps that were checked did not record Ngataus Knob.
There are no archive records of the Board (Westland, Canterbury National, NZGB card indices) relating to Katau, Tatawhaka or Komarupeka.
Macrons would need to be confirmed, depending on the meanings of the names.
For a larger scale version of this map please refer to the pdf version of the Katau Creek and Katau Knob place name report (pdf 2.20MB).
NZGB - Summary Report - Katau Creek et al - 2009-03-26 &27, for Meeting of 26&27 March 2009 LINZ file reference: GES-N15-07-08/1428/01
