Iwi support name change for South Island village

Otago Daily Times

4 days ago

By Pokere Paewai and Samantha Gee of RNZ
Three iwi at the top of the South Island have put their support behind a proposal to change the name of the village of St Arnaud to Rotoiti.
The move is supported by the iwis Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia and Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō.
New Zealand Geographic Board secretary Wendy Shaw confirmed the board had received the proposal.
"The proposer has been advised that they must consult further with the local community before the proposal can be processed further," Shaw said.
The village of St Arnaud has a permanent population of slightly more than 100 people. It sits at the northern end of Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes and takes its name from the nearby St Arnaud range, which in turn takes its name from the French soldier and marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud.
Rangitāne o Wairau General Manager Corey Hebberd said the three iwi, all descending from the waka Kurahaupō, had a strong and proud connection to Rotoiti and the surrounding area. It's a specific area mentioned in their Treaty settlements.
"Providing support to the name was just a no-brainer for us really. We know that it's an area that our people have long frequented for kai, it's a place that they've been sustained, but it's also a place that's along an important journey for us in terms of heading between Wairau and the coast and other parts of the South Island," Hebberd said.
It's not the first attempt to change St Arnaud's name: another proposal was rejected in 2009 according to the Nelson Mail .
Hebberd said Rangitāne did some research and were able to find records that showed the use of the name Rotoiti for the area long before St Arnaud.
"So, we were able to come across a letter that one of our tūpuna Paraone Taitua sent to Governer Eyre in 1851 in which he references Rotoiti as that place name," Hebberd said.
Annette Walker is part of a small group which made the current name change proposal to the Geographic Board. She is optimistic the change will happen and said it would be a huge milestone for the village.
Walker called Jacques Leroy de St Arnaud a "dreadful man" and believed some residents would support a change to Rotoiti.
"It's like a festering sore that still arises every now and then from the old residents of Lake Rotoiti and they still call it Rotoiti," she said.
Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud's wartime exploits in Algeria included suffocating 500 Arab tribesmen in a cave by sealing its exits.
Hebberd said it was important to acknowledge some of the actions of the man, but the name Rotoiti would also be more reflective of the area itself.
Hebberd said he grew up in the Wairau region and would frequently head up to Lake Rotoiti, and the area near the lake was simply referred to by many as Rotoiti.
"It's very infrequent that I hear it referred to as St Arnaud. I respect the fact that there will be community members who do call it St Arnaud and who have an affinity with that name, but given the past associated with that name and also the fact that it's so close Lake Rotoiti, the township sits on Lake Rotoiti it makes sense for the area to carry that name."