Te Korero Karoro – Chattering Seagulls

The sandspit opposite Sumner and on the New Brighton side of the Heathcote is known by Māori as Te Korero Karoro: meaning - the chattering of the seagulls, referring to the meeting place of the seagulls. Te Ihu Tai was another name given to the sandspit meaning – the nose of the tide which refers to the breathing in and out of the tidal waters through the channel at the end of the spit.

This is the sandspit upon which our school is situated. There was a large pa belonging to the Ngati Mamoe tribe at Tau-hinu Korokio (Mount Pleasant) and on the sandspit at the site of the present Pleasant Point Domain there was a small village called Te Kai o te Karoro (the food of the seagull).

The estuary has been a major source of food for Māori. Several thousand campsites have been found along the sand dunes between the estuary and the Waikari River mouth. Ngai Tahu harvested shellfish, eels and waterfowl on the tidal flats. The mouth of the estuary was an important trade route for harakeke (flax) and potatoes in exchange for steel adzes, axes, muskets and other goods.

Early settlement of the Canterbury region

It is said that Captain Cook discovered this part of New Zealand on Friday the 16th 1770. It is also said that Captain Thomas the chief surveyor of the Canterbury Association came out from England in 1849 and selected the sites of Whanga-raupo (Lyttleton) and Ōtautahi (Christchurch), had them surveyed and made preparations for receiving immigrants. The first immigrant ship the Charlotte Jane arrived on December the 16th 1850 at about 10 o’clock in the morning followed by the Randolph at about 3 o’clock that afternoon and the Sir George Seymour at 10 o’clock the following morning. Some diaries written by immigrants tell of the voyage, the hardships and the frustrations of the pioneers who arrived in a strange new country (that Maori called Aotearoa and Pakeha called New Zealand) as they settled into this area known by Māori as Waitaha (Canterbury). (Students and staff both past and present have ancestors who had written such diaries).

Māori have probably lived here since the 1100’s. Artifacts like fish hooks, tools and paddles have all been unearthed at Te Rae Kura, which is the name given to the promontory above Te Ana o Hineraki (the Moa Bone Cave) on the way to Sumner. A carved bone from the now extinct New Zealand eagle was found in this cave and tools, burial sites, middens, stone artifacts, sinkers, spears and paddles have all been unearthed along this coastline. Waitaha (Canterbury) artifacts in the Te Māori Exhibition have been dated at up to 1000 years old. They are the most ancient artifacts in the exhibition.

The first Māori who inhabited the Canterbury district are said to have been the Waitaha who originally came from Hawaiki in the waka (canoe) Arawa. In 1577 the Waitaha were conquered by the Ngati Mamoe. About 100 years later Ngai Tahu from the east coast of the North Island conquered the Ngati Mamoe and become the dominant South Island (Ko Waka a Maui or Te Wai Pounamu) tribe. It was Ngai Tahu who signed the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi).

At the beginning of the 1800’s there were approximately 5,000 Maori living in the area. However by the 1820’s inter tribal fighting had reduced the numbers, shattering the tribal organisation of the mid Waitaha (Canterbury) area. By the time the Europeans arrived here in the 1840’s there were only about 500 Māori living in Waitaha (Canterbury).

When Pakeha (Europeans) arrived a very different scene to what we know today awaited them. The coastal land where our school is situated was a mixture of wetland scrub and fern covered by the dunes. By the 1900’s the Pakeha (Europeans) had drained most of the land to use as grazing runs but remnants can be seen at Brooklands Lagoon and at Travis Swamp. These wetlands once stretched from Te Wai Hora (Lake Ellesmere) to Te Ara o Waimakariri (the Waimakari River). By the late 1870’s the dunes had been invaded by weeds and stripped of their growth by rabbits, sheep and cattle. The sandy soil was then exposed and eroded away with wind.

Although it is difficult to imagine a well-developed river trade operating here – between 1850 and 1857, over 240 vessels worked on the river. (These vessels ranged in size and weighing between 10 and 120 tons.) In those days because of the bush clad steep hills, coastal and river links were important. The Estuary was the main access route prior to the opening of the Lyttleton rail tunnel and was an important port of call in this service linking Kaiapoi, Sumner and the bays of Banks Peninsula, carrying passengers, firewood, farm products, machinery, stock and general goods.

The Estuary was relied upon not only for trade but also for food and social contact. Whale boats, yachts, fishing vessels, paddle steamers, schooners and conventional steamers all used the Avon-Heathcote Estuary for their access to Christchurch. The Lyttleton tunnel – the first tunnel in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the only tunnel in the world to run through a volcano, opened in 1867 and this assisted in the operation of a trade in flax, which had begun when the Pakeha (Europeans) first arrived.

The area around the Estuary was looked after by Ngai Tuahuriri, who were the Kaitiaki (caretakers) of the area. The Estuary was known as Wai Patiki meaning water where flounders are caught and also Ohika Paruparu, which refers to falling into the muddy waters whilst spearing flounders. Te Ihu Tai was mentioned earlier as one of the names given to the sandspit on which our school is situated. In addition it was also the name of a particular fishing ground which was situated on the estuary. This was an important mahinga kai (food gathering area) and food was in abundance. Tuna (Eel), Manga (Whitebait), Patiki (Flounder), Kanakana (Lamprey), Pipi (a type of shellfish) and Inanga (Native Trout) provided food for the people of the Pa. Whare (houses) were built out of local Raupo (Flax) and native trees. The caves provided shelter as well as the materials for making rock tools and red ochre the pigment used for carving and rock drawings. This red ochre came from the Redcliffs area. Sumner was called Matuku-Tako-Tako and Cave Rock was known as Tua Wera.

Bird life too was in abundance. Weka, Pateke (grey or Paradise Duck), Tata (Blue or Whistling duck, Kukupango (Black Teal – now uncommon) were in abundance and provided food for the people of the area. Pakura (Swamp hen) also known as Pukeko, which is the Te Waka a Maui (North Island) name, were also snared for food. Middens containing bones of many of these birds – Kiwi and Moa bones too, have been found all along the coastline.

Whilst a lot of the traditional bird-life has disappeared, the Karoro (seagulls) continue to live in the area. They were probably not a significant food source because they were not as easily caught as other species. For those people living in the South Brighton area, the Māori name for this area – Te Korero Karoro (Chattering of the seagulls) continues to have meaning.

Written by Libby Drayton in consultation with the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board, Tribal Archives and Research Unit, June 1992.

Edited by Sartia McGeoch August/September 2009