September 21, 2021
Time to clear colonisers off map
A Māori Party strategist believes the country is ready to change its name.
The party has launched a petition calling for Aotearoa to become the official name, and for all towns and cities to revert to their original Māori names by 2026.
John Tamihere says inhabitants of this country did not get a say in the name New Zealand, as it came from a Dutchman who never set foot on the land.
He says shrugging off colonial names and listening to indigenous voices is part of growing up as a country.
“Like you didn’t know Lord Auckland, who Auckland is named after, Lord Gisborne, that Gisborne is named after, Captain Hamilton, that Hamilton is named after. None of us know anything about these people apart from the fact they were high up in British society and raping, stealing and taking resources from indigenous people and sending them back to London,” Mr Tamihere says.
He says the name Aotearoa will reflect a new sense of nationhood.