Knights Stream School | Mingimingi Hautoa

Iwi and Hapū

Ngāi Tahu Whānui are the iwi who hold manawhenua over a large proportion of Te Waipounamu – the South Island.

Te Taumutu Rūnunga represents the hapū of our local area, and is part of Ngāi Tahu.

Te Taumutu Rūnanga is recognised as the kaitiaki or guardian of Mingimingi Hautoa | Knights Stream School.

Knights Stream School | Mingimingi Hautoa

Our Cultural Narrative

Knights Stream School was gifted its Māori name “Mingimingi Hautoa” by Te Taumutu Rūnanga. Mingimingi Hautoa, translates to “The Courageous Mingimingi”. Mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua) is a culturally and ecologically significant shrub. It has medicinal properties and was used by Māori in the making of hinaki tuna nets for catching eels (something Taumutu is keen to revive the art of making). To Māori these aspects make the shrub a taonga species of cultural and spiritual importance. It is a threatened plant, and Taumutu considers it special to have Knights Stream school children champion its survival.

Ko Ōtūmatua te maunga, Ōtūmatua is the mountain
Ko Ōpouira te awa, Knights Stream is the river
He Kūkūwai te whenua, Kūkūwai is the wetlands
Ko Ngāi Tahu te iwi, nāia te mihi. Ngāi Tahu is the tribe, this is my acknowledgement
Ko Mingimingi Hautoa tōku kura. Knights Stream is my school.

Kūkūwai

The local environment was traditionally kūkūwai (swamp/wetlands) and the connection with the water and land is of significance to the school.

Ōpouira

Te Tauawa a Maka (Nottingham Stream) and Ōpouira (Knights Stream) meet in the farmland around Sabys Rd and become the Huritini / Halswell River (meaning many turns).The Huritini is a major tributary of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere and significant for linking urban Christchurch City with the lake. The river was an important mahinga kai site with tuna (eel), korari (the flower stalk of the flax), aruhe (bracken fern), kōareare (edible part of raupō) and a variety of birds. A former swamp, Te Uru Mānuka existed at the top of the Halswell River in the Hornby area draining the headwaters of Ōpouira/Knights Stream.

Ōtūmatua

Our maunga, is a significant hillock located on the ridge above the Halswell Quarry leading up to Kennedy’s Bush, sometimes referred to as Moffats Corner and also known as Kitcheners Knoll. Ōtūmatua is considered a wāhi tapu by Ngāi Tahu (sacred place) and previously had a tūahu (alter) located on top that was used as a place to forecast the weather.

Ōwaka

The school location was once part of an important waka haulage link. A nearby area, Ōwaka, references the waka transport route. When one waterway ended and there was a short distance to the next, light craft were dragged across these portages from one stream to another.