Map maker: Teone Taare Tikao 

Teone Taare Tikao was born on Banks Peninsula around 1850. Tikao claimed descent from twenty-one Ngāi Tahu hapū but was principally of Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāti Irakehu. At an early age he was placed by his father in the charge of two noted tribal tohunga of Ngāi Tahu, Koroko and Tuauau, from whom he gained an encyclopaedic knowledge of Ngāi Tahu natural lore and history of the Canterbury area. Tikao lived at Wainui and Koukourarata (Port Levy) before finally moving to Rāpaki with his family. Biculturally competent leaders able to manage the relationships with the rapidly expanding Pākehā world were in high demand, and his skills marked Tikao for recognition. He was an influential figure, heavily involved with the Ngāi Tahu claims, and with Te Kotahitanga, the movement for an independent Māori parliament. He gave generously of himself and was, above all, a source of traditional learning for succeeding generations.

Tikao became an informant of James Cowan, James Stack and James Herries Beattie, who recorded and published Ngāi Tahu history and traditional information. He also generously provided information to many others including Henry Dawson. The map Tikao drew for Dawson is a little larger than foolscap and includes more than one hundred place names along the shoreline of Akaroa Harbour neatly written in black ink. The harbour features a French ship, 'Kai Puke Wiwi' and a whale boat manned by a crew poised to harpoon a whale. 

Henry Walter Dawson

Henry Walter Dawson (c.1854 – 1939) was Postmaster at Akaroa from 1880 – 1908. He was a popular and esteemed member of the community who was recognised as a generous man and a hard worker. In 1908 he was relocated to Onehunga Post Office where he worked for a further five years until his retirement in 1912. When Akaroa residents gathered to farewell him in January 1908, the Mayor noted that ‘the zeal’ Dawson had shown in the performance of his duties, and his ‘many quiet kindnesses made him a splendid example for the younger generation.’

Dawson was interested in local Māori place names as evidenced by his collection of information from several Ngāi Tahu individuals including Teoti Rapatini (George Robinson), Paurini Hirawea, Rahera Te Hua Tikao and her son Teone Taare Tikao. Dawson also knew the amateur historian Howard Charles Jacobson well. Jacobson was the author of Tales of Banks Peninsula (1883) and may have influenced Dawson in terms of his pursuit of Ngāi Tahu subjects.

In 1928 and 1929, long after he had left Akaroa, Dawson published information in the Akaroa Mail about the Māori names for the peaks and hills around Akaroa. His deep attachment to the Akaroa area and its toponymy is perhaps best summed up by the fact that he named his family home in Auckland, ‘Onawe’.

Dawson to Andersen, 15 June 1908

Six months after leaving Akaroa for Onehunga Henry Dawson sent a letter to Johannes Andersen at the Department of Lands and Survey enclosing the detailed 'Place names of Akaroa' map drawn by Teone Taare Tikao accompanied by a fifteen-page printed list of Māori place names collected by Dawson from Ngāi Tahu sources. At the time, Andersen was gathering material for a proposed 'topographical dictionary' of the Canterbury district. He had requested information from numerous contacts including elderly surveyors, former staff of the Department of Lands and Survey, and local history buffs. Andersen and Dawson had a mutual friend in Howard Jacobson (author of Tales of Banks Peninsula) so it is possible that he put the two men in contact. 

In his letter Dawson advises Andersen to consult Teone Taare Tikao in person regarding the plotting of the list of names on the map, noting Tikao's intimate knowledge of Banks Peninsula. However, it seems that Andersen never took up this opportunity. Indeed it is well-known that while Andersen had an avid interest in Māori toponymy, he rarely had any contact with Māori communities.

When Andersen's Place-names of Banks Peninsula: A topographical history was eventually published in 1927, it referred to 'John Tikao' and 'Charles Tikao' as two distinct sources however they were in fact the same person, Teone Taare (John Charles). This error was eventually pointed out to Andersen by Rahera Tainui (Tikao's daughter) in 1930.

While Dawson requested that Andersen return the map and other papers to him, this never eventuated. The material remained part of Andersen's personal collection and is now held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Click here to see the list of Māori place names provided by Teone Taare Tikao in Kareao.