{"id":500828,"date":"2026-06-29T09:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/500828\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T09:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T09:12:15","slug":"maori-names-restored-to-five-auckland-regional-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/500828\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u0101ori names restored to five Auckland regional parks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Five Auckland regional parks have had M\u0101ori names and narratives restored.<\/p>\n<p>Mana whenua have shared ancestral names for Long Bay \/ Te Oneroa \u014d Kahu, Shakespear \/ Te H\u0101ruhi and Wenderholm \/ Maungatauhoro regional parks.<\/p>\n<p>A new M\u0101ori name has been provided for Ambury Regional Park, Te Ara i Tautahi, while the full name for \u014cmana Regional Park will be restored to \u014c Manawatere Regional Park.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4MN4A3P_Te_Oneroa_Kahu_Long_Bay_Regional_Park_Photo_Auckland_Council_jpg.jpeg\"  alt=\"Te Oneroa \u014d Kahu Long Bay Regional Park.\" width=\"614\" height=\"384\" class=\"max-h-[50rem] max-w-full aspect-[16\/10] object-cover\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Te Oneroa \u014d Kahu Long Bay Regional Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-foreground-secondary flex-shrink-0 ml-4\">Supplied \/ Auckland Council<\/p>\n<p>Auckland Council&#8217;s Community Committee formally adopted the names to sit alongside the existing English names at four of the sites.<\/p>\n<p>Committee chair Councillor Julie Fairey said the new names are an important step in acknowledging our past and celebrating M\u0101ori heritage, a priority in both The Auckland Plan 2050 and Long-term Plan 2021-2031.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Names matter and have power. Through partnerships with mana whenua, these names help to safeguard cultural knowledge, restore stories to the landscape, and strengthen connections to T\u0101maki Makaurau. These additions and changes will help visitors to learn more about the cultural significance of the places that host our regional parks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4N5JPG3_Te_H_ruhi_Shakespear_Regional_Park_jpg.jpeg\"  alt=\"Te H\u0101ruhi Shakespear Regional Park\" width=\"614\" height=\"384\" class=\"max-h-[50rem] max-w-full aspect-[16\/10] object-cover\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Te H\u0101ruhi Shakespear Regional Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-foreground-secondary flex-shrink-0 ml-4\">Supplied \/ Auckland Council<\/p>\n<p>The pathway to adopting each reo M\u0101ori name dates back to November 2021, when decision-makers first agreed to invite mana whenua to provide names for regional parks as part of the Te Kete Rukuruku programme.<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Alf Filipaina &#8211; who chaired the committee that initiated the naming process &#8211; said a lot of research, discussion and collaboration has taken place for iwi and the council to reach the stage where five names can officially be recognised.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m so proud that we&#8217;ve reached this step. The names represent an important part of a bigger project to bring te reo M\u0101ori place names back into our everyday language across T\u0101maki Makaurau. They follow the adoption of te reo for hundreds of local parks and I hope this marks the beginning for more regional parks to come. The names that mana whenua have gifted are a taonga (treasure) to be shared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4JM9JA8_Maungatauhoro_Wenderholm_Regional_Park_jpeg.jpeg\"  alt=\"Maungatauhoro Wenderholm Regional Park.\" width=\"614\" height=\"384\" class=\"max-h-[50rem] max-w-full aspect-[16\/10] object-cover\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Maungatauhoro Wenderholm Regional Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-foreground-secondary flex-shrink-0 ml-4\">Supplied \/ Auckland Council<\/p>\n<p>Robin Taua-Gordon, Pou Tangata from Te Kawerau Iwi Tiaki Trust, played an important role in sharing the narratives for Long Bay, Shakespear and Wenderholm.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As Te Kawerau \u0101 Maki, we honour the deep connection to whenua and acknowledge our history. These names have always existed for us, but the Te Kete Rukuruku kaupapa has enabled us to share some of the m\u0101tauranga tuku iho (ancestral knowledge) with all who come here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tumuaki Huanga M\u0101ori \/ M\u0101ori Outcomes Director Nicholas Turoa said the names reflected the rich identity of T\u0101maki Makaurau and the many histories that shaped it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These names bring the stories of our places back into focus, strengthening the connection between whenua, whakapapa, and community. They recognise the deep M\u0101ori heritage of these sites, while also acknowledging the layers of history that have developed over time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is about ensuring Aucklanders can see themselves in the places around them &#8211; and feel a stronger connection to the stories, names and identities that make up T\u0101maki Makaurau today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4RLZHHR_Te_Arai_i_Tautahi_Ambury_Regional_Park_jpg.jpeg\"  alt=\"Te Arai i Tautahi Ambury Regional Park.\" width=\"614\" height=\"384\" class=\"max-h-[50rem] max-w-full aspect-[16\/10] object-cover\"  decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Te Arai i Tautahi Ambury Regional Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-foreground-secondary flex-shrink-0 ml-4\">Supplied \/ Auckland Council<\/p>\n<p>The five regional parks are the first to be named through Te Kete Rukuruku programme &#8211; a partnership between Auckland Council, local boards and mana whenua to collect, protect and share stories unique to ng\u0101 iwi o T\u0101maki Makaurau.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2017, when the programme started, 17 local boards have supported more than 580 local parks and public places across Auckland to receive original and contemporary M\u0101ori names.<\/p>\n<p>Further dual naming discussions are underway with mana whenua on te reo M\u0101ori names and narratives for more parks across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five Auckland regional parks have had M\u0101ori names and narratives restored. Mana whenua have shared ancestral names for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-500828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}