Waenganui / Te Papa Rēhia o Allenby
Ko te kōrero kei muri i te ingoa
I kapohia ake te ingoa o te papa rēhia nei, o Waenganui, i te whakataukī e whai ake nei e tohu ana i ngā rohenga o Papatoetoe.
Kohuora ki te uru
Tāmaki moana ki uta
He toetoe hei tīpare ki waenganui
Ko te whenua e tū nei a Waenganui – kei te puku o Papatoetoe – he wāhanga nō te taura hono e here nei i ngā whanga e rua: he wāhi matua mō te hāereere me te tauhokohoko.
I mua i te taenga mai o Tauiwi, noho ai ko Papatoetoe hei tōanga-waka i tōia ai ngā waka i Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa (Te Whanga o Manukau) ki Te Waitematā (Te Whanga o Te Waitematā).
Ko Waenganui tētahi tohu wāhi nō te iwi o Te Wai o Hua. Ko Ngāti Tamaoho, ko Ngā Oho, ko Ngā Iwi, ko Te Uri o Pou hoki kei roto i tēnei huihuinga iwi i heke mai rā i ngā iwi tuatahi o Tāmaki Makaurau.
E ai ki te tirohanga Māori, ko ngā ingoa wāhi ngā tohu e hono ai tātou ki ngā wā o mua.
Ehara i te mea ka whakaahua ngā ingoa i te takoto o te whenua anake i ōna rawa me te whakamahinga o aua rawa, engari ka whakanuia hoki he tūpuna, he kaupapa, me ngā tikanga motuhake.
Ko ngā ingoa o ngā wāhi ka tohu i te rangatiratanga o ngā iwi pātata o ēnei rā ki aua whenua, pērā i ērā o ngā wā o ō rātou tūpuna.
He korero ēnei i tuku mai nā Ngāti Tamaoho.
Waenganui / Allenby Park
The story behind the name
The name of this park, Waenganui, is drawn from the following whakataukī (proverb) that defines the boundaries of Papatoetoe.
Kohuora to the west
the shores of the Tāmaki river
and a headdress of toetoe in the middle
The land on which Waenganui is located — at the centre of Papatoetoe — was part of the connective tissue that bound two harbours together: a focal point for travel and trade.
In pre-colonial times, Papatoetoe was used as a tōanga-waka (canoe portage) where waka could be dragged from Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa /Manukau Harbour to Te Waitematā / Waitematā Harbour.
Waenganui is a tohu wāhi (landmark) of the Wai o Hua people. Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngā Oho, Ngā Iwi and Te Uri o Pou are all part of this confederation of tribes who descended from the earliest peoples of Tāmaki Makaurau.
According to the Māori worldview, place names are landmarks that connect us to our past.
They not only describe the topography of the land, its natural resources, and their usage, they also commemorate specific ancestors, events, and traditions.
Place names act as tohu (indicators) of traditional ownership by local iwi today, just as they did for their ancestors before them.
Narrative supplied by Ngāti Tamaoho.
