August 04, 2013
The name game
Opinion: Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me is a rhyme most of us grew up with.
But you'd have thought the world was going to end with the rednecked rhetoric surrounding the debate of changing the names of the North and South Islands to Te Waipounamu for the South and Te Ika-ā-Maui for the North.
Te Waipounamu – the waters of greenstone – and Te Ika-a-Maui – the fish of Maui – will not replace what we already have but I believe they will complement the names.
The new names have a nice ring to them and showcase our beautiful land and language.
Most organisations, including all government departments, now have their names in both English and Māori.
That shows how far we have come as a country because that to me is acceptance that we are bicultural.
And whether we like or not this country is indebted to the Māori protest movement which fought for the survival of our language, not just against Pakeha but against many of our own who thought we should dump te reo Māori altogether.
Sure there's now a ton of other ethnicities that form the new face of New Zealand, but English and Maori are the two cultures that founded our identity in the Treaty of Waitangi.
I remember back to the debate about our national anthem, when the old rednecks were against singing God Defend New Zealand in both languages.
Now every school kid in the country is proud to belt out both versions.
The RSA ode is recited in both English and Maori because it's not only English soldiers who have bravely gone into battle for this country.
Every Kiwi – Māori and non-Māori – knows the greeting "kia ora".
The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha ō Aotearoa has called for public consultation before formally assigning alternative Maori names to the two islands.
As it stands, during this process it was discovered that the North and South Island names were never formalised.
This is a great opportunity not only to update our history but also to enhance te reo Māori.
That's what makes us different from any other nation in the world.
I used to watch South Africans singing their national anthem at rugby matches.
During the disgraceful apartheid years, Die Stem was the sole national anthem.
That was until 1995 when the Nelson Mandela government combined Die Stem with the 1897 hymn Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika to form their new hybrid anthem.
Now black and white South Africans belt out that hybrid anthem with heart and soul.
Te Ika-ā-Maui and Te Waipounamu will not replace the North and South Island names – they will just give us options. If you've got a problem with that for goodness sake get over it.