Māori

Te Karoro Karoro - Brighton Spit

  • Tī Kōuka Whenua start page
  • Canterbury Map
  • Index of sites
  • Tribal history
  • Glossary

Te Karoro KaroroThe original Waitaha name for the Brighton Spit area was Te Karoro Karoro (the seagulls chatter).

Later it was known as Kaiaua, which literally means ‘to eat yellow-eyed mullet or herring'.

Brighton Spit was formed from sand carried to the coast by the Rakahuri (Ashley) and Waimakariri rivers building up along the shore.

SculptureThe sand formed spits enclosing both Brooklands Lagoon and the Avon-Heathcote Estuary.

Throughout the pines of South New Brighton Park a number of middens (piles of shells etc) have been discovered.

  • Tī Kōuka Whenua start page
  • Browse using maps
  • Alphabetical index of locations
  • Brief history of Māori tribes
  • Glossary of Māori terms

Sources: