Hamilton mayor's name change idea was never going to fly

Thursday, 15 March 2018

OPINION: The place names that have defined my life are a random mix of Māori and English.

I grew up in the Waikato, in the rural settlement of Kairangi, in the foothills of Mt Maungatautari. From this eyrie we looked out to the flat swamp-lands of Monavale, and beyond to Mt Pirongia.

My home town was Cambridge, and my grandparents farmed at Oparau, near Kāwhia. To visit them, we drove through Te Awamutu and headed west to the coast.

I've lived in Hamilton for a long time, and the voice on my Google Maps app has a hard time with the likes of Wairere Drive, Te Aroha St and Te Rapa Rd. (She's spot-on with drive, street and road.)

This mix of indigenous and imported place names is just how things are in Aotearoa-New Zealand, deeply rooted in our Māori and subsequent colonial history. There was clearly no plan for the way it all unfolded, although nowadays there is a robust process for changing names conducted through The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa.

Mostly we don't spend too much time pondering the origins of places we know and love. They're in our DNA. This week's been different, though, in the wake of Hamilton Mayor Andrew King's suggestion (which he scrapped on Thursday) of changing his council's title to Kirikiriroa City Council, to reflect closer links with local iwi.

King drew a huge amount of negative comment on it from his councillors and from residents concerned that it would be an unnecessary and potentially expensive exercise. It was seen as an annoying distraction rather than an opportunity to better celebrate Māori heritage and language.

As councillor Paula Southgate said, the proposal came at a time when ratepayers were already reeling from proposed rates increases and various out-of-the-blue projects. Other commentators joined the chorus, listing more important work they think council should be doing.

Quite selfishly, in the past sweltering summer I've wished that council had looked after the now abandoned Municipal Pools on Victoria St a bit better so I could have nipped in for a few swims. Same goes for Founders Theatre, this being for entertainment not swimming.

But the Munis and Founders are a distraction in the current debate: back to Kirikiriroa, a lovely melodious word, the Māori name for the city. Kirikiriroa Pa once occupied land between London and Bryce Sts in the CBD, and Ngāti Wairere spokesman Wiremu Puke says early Pākehā settlers would have known the Hamilton area as Kirikiriroa.

The horse has long bolted on Kirikiriroa as our name, or even as the council's title. The bolting took place in August 1864, when settlers from the 4th Waikato militia regiment arrived at Kirikiriroa. The village's renaming is a close-to-home example of the immediate sense of ownership felt by some early European settlers.

Colonel William Moule, the regiment's commander, decided the new town would be called Hamilton, in memory of Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton of the Naval Brigade. Hamilton died in action at Gate Pa, aged 44, and is buried at Tauranga's Mission Cemetery. His life-size (surprisingly short) bronze statue is nowadays in the Civic Square of the city named after him.

Author Peter Gibbons, in his book Astride the River, A history of Hamilton, describes Captain Hamilton as being perfectly respectable in background and accomplishment, 'neither grand nor lowly'.

Gibbons says it's unlikely that Colonel Moule was merely thinking of Captain Hamilton when he named the fledgling settlement. He suggests Moule possibly had in mind other Hamiltons – both places and people. Moule may also have heard that many of the 4th Regiment had sailed from Australia to Auckland in the ship Maud Hamilton. Says Gibbons: 'The word had several immediate associations, and it survived.'

While Andrew King's 21st century Kirikiriroa proposal was well-intentioned, the timing wasn't ideal during deliberations on the city's long-term plan, and it wasn't going to fly. The disconnect and confusion of having a council with a different handle from its city seemed too great.

Debating such a topic is always a good thing, though. I particularly like a comment this week from councillor Martin Gallagher; while he doesn't agree with King's idea he said it supported a wider discussion – already taking place – on better ways to celebrate Māori language and heritage in Hamilton. 'The city we live in didn't start in 1864,' Gallagher says. 'It's older than that.'

So, joining the discussion: Could Garden Place become Kirikiriroa Park, maybe with an installation of splendid carved pou a few steps from Civic Square and the statue of Captain Hamilton? Honouring ancient and more recent history. There's another random thought.