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Naming the Manukau (Manuka) Harbour
Bruce Ringer
This essay briefly examines the traditions associated with the naming of the Manukau Harbour. ‘Manuka’ is the traditional form of the name, but ‘Manukau’ is more generally used today.
The Tainui canoe
There are several versions of the origin of the name for the Manukau harbour. Most probably, the name originated with the passage of the Tainui canoe through the harbour in the mid-fourteenth century. [1]
According to Leslie G. Kelly’s account, when the navigator Hoturoa and the crew of the Tainui entered the harbour via the Otahuhu portage, they heard the cries of a multitude of sea birds. They at first mistook these for the cries of human beings, but later discovered them to be 'only birds' (‘he manu kau noa iho’). Hence the name ‘Manu-kau’ was applied to the northern stretch of the harbour.
However, as the Tainui negotiated the bar at the harbour entrance, it encountered heavy breakers, and the crew began to doubt they would reach the open sea safely. Thus the entrance to the harbour was named ‘Te Maanuka o Hotu-nui’; ‘maanuka’ or ‘maanukanuka’, meaning ‘anxiety’ or ‘anxious mind’. [2] (There are differing accounts of the voyage, and Hotunui has been identified both as another name for Hoturoa and the younger brother of Hoturoa.) [3]
Thus it seems likely that the name ‘Manukau’ was originally applied to the harbour in the vicinity of Mangere, while the name ‘Manuka’ was applied to the waters at the bar of the harbour. [4]
If this is the case, then it is unclear which name was first applied to the harbour as a whole, or when. However, the majority of recorded pre-European sources, from several different tribal traditions, refer to the ‘Manuka’. [5]
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