Te Kupu o te Wiki – The Word of the Week

Kia ora. To celebrate Te Reo Māori we are publishing kupu (words).

Whakataukī

Ka mate te kāinga tahi, ka ora te kāinga rua.
When one house dies, a second lives.

Historically used when two houses or families are merged due to the unfortunate circumstances of one particular family. However this could be used when something good emerges from misfortune

Kīwaha (colloquialism)

Aua hoki!
No idea!

Kupu (word)

horoi
wash

Māku ngā rīhi e horoi.
I will wash the dishes.

• Browse our Te Reo Māori resources.
• Previous Te Kupu o te reo Māori posts.

This week in Christchurch history (6 to 12 April)

6 April 1982
Premiere of “Roadshow” road safety stage show. The show was later taken on a national tour for 6 months from February 1983. It played to a total audience of over 250,000, probably the biggest of any New Zealand musical show.

7 April 1859
Canterbury Rifles organised – the first military force in the Province. It was formed as a result of the Taranaki land wars.

Lyttelton and harbour [ca. 1888] Coxhead, F. A. (Frank Arnold), b. 1851, CCL PhotoCD 1, IMG0034

8 April 1883
First shipment of frozen “Canterbury lamb” leaves Lyttelton for the United Kingdom on the British King.

10-12 April 1981
Visit by Prince of Wales.

10 April 1882
Joubert and Twopenny’s New Zealand International Exhibition opens in South Hagley Park. The exhibition, complete with an educated pig and an armless lady, drew a total attendance of over 250,000 until it closed on July 15.

10 April 1965
Airport becomes New Zealand’s first jet airport with the inauguration of the first regular jet flights from Christchurch to Australia.

11 April 1968
Wahine storm (the city’s worst recorded storm) causes one death and widespread wind and flood damage.

12 April 1840
Sarah and Elizabeth lands Herriot, McGillivray, Ellis, Shaw (and wife) and McKinnon (with his wife and child) who try to establish a farm at Riccarton. They are the first European settlers on the plains.

12 April 1850
John Robert Godley, first leader of the Canterbury Association settlers, arrives with his wife in Lyttelton on Lady Nugent. He quarrels with Thomas, and departs for Wellington, not returning until November 28. (It appears that he had no intention of settling permanently in the new colony.)

The statue of John Robert Godley, Cathedral Square, pictured in the Cathedral grounds [ca. 1930], CCL PhotoCD 8, IMG0022

More April events in the Christchurch chronology: a timeline of Christchurch events in chronological order from pre-European times to 1989.