The Huxley River (Māori: Tairau) is in the South Island of New Zealand. It feeds into the Hopkins River which in turn feeds into Lake Ōhau.

A backcountry swing bridge crossing the river

History

edit

The first Pākeha to explore the valley was Julius Von Haast. The valley was named after the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley.[1] The Huxley valley previously had the Māori name Tairau (sometimes given as Tirau), meaning 'stake' or 'peg'.[2][3] The northern branch of the valley contains Brodrick Pass, called in Māori Te Tarahaka, meaning ‘a thief who steals without qualms or care for the thoughts of others’.[3] This pass was incredibly important for traversing the South Island, and was in heavy use in the old days,[3] due to the fact that it is an easy ascent from both the Lands borough side and the Huxley side.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Rutherford Journal - The New Zealand Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology". www.rutherfordjournal.org. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  2. ^ Stevenson, G. B. (18 January 1947). "Maori and Pakeha in North Otago". A.H. & A.W. Reed – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c "Te Ao Hou THE MAORI MAGAZINE [electronic resource]". teaohou.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Brodrick Pass | ClimbNZ | climbnz.org.nz". climbnz.org.nz. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
edit

44°00′S 169°49′E / 44.000°S 169.817°E / -44.000; 169.817