Hōniana Te Puni Street

One of the oldest streets in Wellington, Epuni Street [Hōniana Te Puni Street] is shown on William Mein's "Plan of the City of Wellington' in 1841.

On 13 December 2023 the WCC Regulatory Process Committee voted to correct the name of Epuni Street to Hōniana Te Puni Street. Hōniana Te Puni, also known as Hōniana Te Puni-Kōkopu, was a chief of the Ngāti Tawhirikura and Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa. In the early 1830s he was one of the leaders of the hekenga (migration) that travelled from Taranaki to the greater Wellington region. 

Mana whenua advised that the use of Epuni as the street name is incorrect as it was a colloquial form of Hōniana Te Puni’s name used in conversation between Māori in certain circumstances, similar to the use of e hoa (my friend) today. The correction to his full and proper name will contribute to a greater awareness of his place and the place of tangata whenua in our history.