Puketapu is a prominent hill in

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, in New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, overlooking the town of

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and ...

. The name ''Puketapu'' is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

meaning "sacred hill". There is a memorial

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

to the 19th century Otago politician Sir John McKenzie. The cairn erected in 1929 by Sir

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

, replaced an earlier cairn on the nearby hill of Pukehiwitahi, which was erected in 1902, but quickly fell into disrepair. An annual race held in October each year is run from Palmerston railway station to the summit of Puketapu and back, which is called "Kelly's canter", dedicated to Albert Kelly who ran up Puketapu as a constable in the Palmerston police force every day during World War II to look out for enemy ships.

Māori mythology

There are several versions of the traditional story of the area but they all tell of the arrival of Rākaihautū from the ancestral homeland Hawaiki who met the Kahui Tipua people who were already here. He showed them ''

kumara Kumara may refer to: Places * Kumara (Mali), a province * Kumara, New Zealand, a town * Kumara (New Zealand electorate), a Parliamentary electorate Other uses * Kumara Illangasinghe, an Anglican bishop in Sri Lanka * Kumara (surname) * The Four ...

'', or sweet potatoes, and they built '' waka'' (canoes) including Ārai Te Uru to go to Hawaiki and bring back this new and valuable food. However, on its return the vessel became waterlogged off the Waitaki River mouth, spilled food baskets on Moeraki and Katiki beaches and was wrecked at

Shag Point / Matakaea Shag Point / Matakaea is a headland and township in East Otago, New Zealand. It is located close to State Highway 1 nine kilometres to the northeast of Palmerston, at the southern end of a long open bay known as Katiki Beach. The point itself ...

, where it turned into what is now called Danger Reef. A prominent point in the reef is said to be the steersman, Hipo, sitting erect at the stern. After this the crew explored the southern South Island, naming many place. Kahui Tipua are 'ghost or giant people' with mythic or magical attributes, although they are also the real ancestors of people living now.Anderson, A., ''et al.'' (1996) ''Shag River Mouth'' Canberra, Aus: The Australian National University. p. 7. If the explorers didn't get back before dawn they turned into hills and other natural features. One of them was a woman Puketapu who went as far south as Owaka in The Catlins. When she got back to the Waihemo Valley dawn broke and she was turned into the hill overlooking Palmerston. The story is seen as an allegorical explanation of the fact that kumara won't grow south of Banks Peninsula. Arai Te Uru is an ancestral canoe of the Kāti Māmoe ''

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

'' who came to the south before Kai Tahu (Ngāi Tahu in modern standard Māori) but were preceded by earlier peoples. The Ārai Te Uru tradition reflects this with its reference to the preceding Kahui Tipua. It is tempting to identify the occupants of an archaeological site close to the mouth of the Waihemo / Shag River with the people of Ārai Te Uru but that can only be speculation.

References

{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Hills of Otago Waitaki District