Duel Names for Aoraki Mount Cook

By Matthew Littlewood Fairfax News NZ.

Ngai Tahu's proposal for several new "dual names" in the Aoraki-Mt Cook region has received the formal sign-off.

Under the changes, "Mt Cook Range" would become "Kirikirikatata/Mt Cook Range", "Tasman Glacier" would change to "Haupapa/Tasman Glacier", while "Aroarokaehe Range" would be assigned to a currently unnamed section of the Southern Alps.

The New Zealand Geographic Board approved the changes at last week's meeting, after it received only three submissions on the proposal - all in favour. The three official names will be gazetted and publicly notified this month.

Ngai Tahu's submission said there was general acceptance of dual names that came about as a result of the 1998 Ngai Tahu Treaty settlement.

It hoped the proposal would accommodate what were considered the original Maori names.

Ngai Tahu kaiwhakahaere (chairman) Sir Mark Solomon was pleased with the decision.

"The Aoraki area is at the centre of our Ngai Tahu creation mythology and our tribal identity, and the formal recognition of our traditional names with Aoraki and its surrounding area is a decision we fully support," he said.

According to the background information provided in the submission, Kirikirikatata was the grandfather of Aoraki.

Both Aoraki and Kirikirikatata turned into a mountain (Aoraki-Mt Cook) and its associated range (Mt Cook Range).

Haupapa is a descriptive name for the ice on Tasman Glacier, which was passed on to an early recorder of Maori oral history, Herries Beattie, by a Ngai Tahu elder. The name is used widely throughout the Ngai Tahu community.

Aroarokaehe was the wife of Mauka Atua and, with Kirikirikatata and Aoraki, was a passenger on the Arai-te-Uru waka. Mauka Atua became a peak on the Ben Ohau Range, while Aroarokaehe was persuaded by Kirikirikatata to move next to himself and Aoraki.

In May last year, the New Zealand Geographic Board confirmed the one-kilometre-long ridge that runs from a snow col below Mt Haidinger to the summit of Douglas Peak, on the main divide, would be named Ayres Ridge after the late climber Harry Ayres.

In December 2011, Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson declared the South Ridge would be renamed Hillary Ridge, after the late Sir Edmund. The renaming became official last year, quashing a submission to name the High Peak of Mt Cook "Hillary Peak" for his 60th Anniversary.