Mount Hikurangi (Gisborne District)

For the mountain in Northland, New Zealand, see Mount Hikurangi (Northland). For the mountain in the Cook Islands, see Ikurangi.
Mount Hikurangi
Te Ara ki Hikurangi (Māori)[1]
Mount Hikurangi, as seen from the Waiapu Valley
Highest point
Elevation1,752 m (5,748 ft)[1]
Prominence1,752 m (5,748 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
ListingList of mountains of New Zealand by height
Coordinates37°55′1.49″S 178°3′36.20″E / 37.9170806°S 178.0600556°E / -37.9170806; 178.0600556[2]
Geography
Mount Hikurangi is located in North Island
Mount Hikurangi
Mount Hikurangi
Location in the North Island of New Zealand
LocationGisborne District, New Zealand
Parent rangeRaukumara Range

Mount Hikurangi (or Te Ara ki Hikurangi in Māori) is a 1,752 m (5,748 ft) peak in the eastern corner of New Zealand's North Island, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Gisborne, and 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of the East Cape Lighthouse.[2] On a spur of the Raukumara Range in the Waiapu Valley, it is the North Island's highest non-volcanic peak.[3]

Mount Hikurangi is within the rohe of Ngāti Porou and Ngati Uēpohatu and is the iwi's most significant icon.[4] In Māori mythology, it was the first part of the North Island to emerge when Māui pulled it as a giant fish from the ocean.[4] According to these beliefs, his waka, Nukutaimemeha, became stranded on the mountain, and lies petrified between the mountain's peaks in Lake Hinetakawhiti.[3][4]

Nearby summits include Whanokao (1,428 m or 4,685 ft), Aorangi (1,272 m or 4,173 ft), Wharekia (1,106 m or 3,629 ft) and Taitai (678 m or 2,224 ft). Together, these mountains provide what Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand calls an "awe-inspiring vista".[3]

The early arrivals to Aotearoa commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to New Zealand places.[5] Hikurangi and Aorangi were a pair of names transferred from Tahiti via Rarotonga to different parts of New Zealand [6] Tahiti has a Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi) at the summit of Mehetia (Me’eti’a) island.[7] Rarotonga has Ikurangi, and maybe the origin of all these names is Si'ulagi(Si'ulangi)in Ta'u, Samoa.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Mount Hikurangi – Te Ara ki Hikurangi". Places to visit. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Hikurangi, Gisborne 4083" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Soutar, Monty (23 August 2011). "East Coast places – Waiapu River valley". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Manatū Taonga | Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Reedy, Tamati Muturangi (4 March 2009). "Ngāti Porou – Tribal boundaries and resources". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Manatū Taonga | Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Ancestral Naming of Places",
  6. ^ "Naming Places",
  7. ^ "Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)"
  8. ^ "Si'ulagi(Si'ulangi)in Ta'u"