Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka

This article is about the pass in New Zealand's Southern Alps. For the pass in Antarctica, see Browning Pass (Antarctica).

Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka
Māori: Nōti Raureka
Browning Pass from Three Passes Track
Elevation	1,411 m (4,629 ft)
Traversed by	Foot track (Three Passes route)
Location	Canterbury
Range	Southern Alps / Ka Tiritiri o te Moana
Coordinates	42°57′00″S 171°20′40″E / 42.9501°S 171.3444°E / -42.9501; 171.3444
Location of Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka on the main divide of New Zealand's South Island

Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka is a mountain pass across the Southern Alps, on the South Island of New Zealand. The pass reaches an elevation of 1,411 metres (4,629 ft) above sea level, connecting the upper reaches of the Wilberforce River with the West Coast.

History and name

According to Māori tradition, Nōti Raureka was originally discovered by a woman belonging to Kāti Wairaki, a formerly Taranaki-based Iwi which had settled on the West Coast. The woman, Raureka, arrived in what is now South Canterbury by way of the pass, where she was founded by a party of Ngāi Tahu. Raureka demonstrated the strength of her pounamu adze when compared to tools used by local Māori and described the route by which she arrived on the eastern side of the island. This prompted further exploration of the region at the head of the Rakaia River along with the route described by Raureka, with the Māori name for the pass – Nōti Raureka – being named in her honour. At this point, relations between Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Wairaki were tense, owing to a breakdown of discussions during previous Ngāi Tahu attempts to meet with Kāti Wairaki to learn about their knowledge of the island. With the discovery of Nōti Raureka, a Ngāi Tahu party under the leadership of Te Rakitāmau crossed into the West Coast, causing relations between the two iwi to erupt into open conflict. Fighting continued for roughly three to four generations, with Ngāi Tahu eventually taking control of the West Coast and the associated pounamu trade.

By the time of European settlement, the route over Nōti Raureka had mostly fallen into disuse in favour of other, safer routes. An effort during the 1860s by the Reverend Canon James West Stack to identify traditional Māori routes across the Southern Alps found only one elderly man who had travelled the route himself, with all other knowledge coming from oral histories of the route. The elderly man sketched landmarks of the route, however, including Lake Browning / Whakarewa on the western side of the pass and a cave near its base. Shortly after Stack's work, a track for stock driving was created over the pass in order to supply the goldfields of the West Coast with a supply of fresh meat from Canterbury farms. As commerce between the coasts progressed, there were calls to develop the route into a road over the pass. However, as other routes were developed (such as the nearby Arthur's Pass), this was scaled back to maintenance of the pack track due to cost.

European surveyors who crossed the pass in 1865 drew lots to determine which of them the summit lake should be named after; Robert Browning was the winner. In 1998, the name was officially changed to the current dual name of Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka as part of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement with Ngāi Tahu.

Geography

Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka is located on the main divide of the Southern Alps, roughly 18 km (11 mi) due west from the town of Arthur's Pass. The Canterbury side of the pass, to the south, follows the Wilberforce River valley south towards Lake Coleridge. From the valley floor, the route ascends roughly 300 metres (980 ft) in altitude to reach the pass itself. Immediately to the north of the pass is Lake Browning / Whakarewa, at an altitude of 1,360 metres (4,460 ft). The route then continues in a northwesterly direction, following the headwaters of the Arahura River towards the West Coast. An alternate route crosses Styx Saddle, heading due west along the Styx River instead.

References

"Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka". NZTopoMap. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
^ O'Regan, Tipene Gerard. "Evidence of Tā Tipene Gerard O'Regan on behalf of Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura, Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Runanga and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu including Ngāi Tahu Properties Ltd". ECan.govt.nz. Environment Canterbury. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
^ "Nōti Raureka — Cultural Mapping Project — Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu". www.kahurumanu.co.nz. Ngāi Tahu.
Phillips, Jock; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Browning Pass". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
"Browning Pass". West Coast New Zealand history. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
Barnett, Shaun (5 February 2013). "See more... historic passes – Wilderness Magazine". Wilderness Magazine. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
"Place name detail: Browning Pass/Noti Raureka". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 20 July 2022.

v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Spoon River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Naihi River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River

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