Naming the Hauraki repo
- 17 July 2025
To local Māori, the entire region is called Hauraki, encompassing the waters and lands from Mahurangi on the coast north of Auckland to the northern entrance to Tauranga Harbour in the south-east – ‘Mai i Mahurangi ki Ngā Kurī-a-Whārei’ (‘from Mahurangi to Ngā Kurī-a-Whārei’, a prominence just north of the harbour entrance).
The Hauraki Plains, a drained swamp, are part of the largest single area of flat land in the North Island – the 1,600 sq km Hauraki depression or basin.
Paul Monin, Hauraki–Coromandel region – Overview, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/hauraki-coromandel-region/page-1 (accessed 17 July 2025).
Story by Paul Monin, published 13 December 2010, updated 1 April 2016.
The Hauraki Plains, known as Tikarahi by Ngāti Hako, was once a huge wetland forest dominated by kahikatea, tōtara and swamp maire.
https://environment.govt.nz/news/planting-begins-on-ecological-corridor-connecting-kopuatai-and-firth-of-thames/
In 1895 Mr H. D. M. Hazard, FRGS had his attention drawn to the possibilities of the Hauraki Plains, which up to then was limited to timber, with flax beginning to loom up, and fishing for eels and shooting ducks.
In 1899 he ran some trial levels there and induced the Chief Surveyor to come and inspect the area, and from then on he kept urging the Lands Department to undertake a drainage scheme. He claimed to have suggested the name "Hauraki Plains" to avoid confusion with the "Piako Swamp" between Hamilton and Morrinsville.
https://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/journal-55-september-2011/from-swamp-to-farm-land Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 55, September 2011 (Reprinted from the Hauraki Plains Gazette, October 1, 1951.) (accessed 25 August 2025).
Repo (wetlands), also known as reporepo, poharu, and roto, are regarded by Māori as taonga with historical, cultural, economic, and spiritual significance. Repo can also be reservoirs for mātauranga (knowledge), wellbeing, and utilisation. [https://maoridictionary.co.nz/]
So would I be correct in calling this area the Hauraki repo?
More to follow...