New Zealand debates what's in a name
23 Apr 2009
New Zealand’s North and South Islands have been found to be officially nameless because of a 200-year legislation oversight - but more than 70% of Kiwis think the current titles should remain.
The oversight was revealed when the New Zealand Geographic Board received a proposal for the names to be changed to their Māori alternatives.
The North Island’s Māori name is Te Ika a Maui which translates as ‘fish of Maui’, and the South Island is known as Te Wai Pounamu or ‘place of greenstone’.
Māori place names
Research by the geographic board, which has a function to collect Māori place names and encourage their use on maps and charts, has shown that ‘North Island’ and ‘South Island’ have never been recognised by New Zealand legislation.
Board chairman Don Grant says they now want to make the naming of the islands official, at the same time formalising the alternative Māori names.
Alternative, as opposed to dual naming, would mean that either the established English names or the Māori names could be used individually or together, Mr Grant said.
Naming debate
The suggestion, now being hotly debated within New Zealand, has also attracted interest from overseas. An on-line poll by the country’s largest newspaper, the NZ Herald, shows that 71% of people think the islands should keep their current names.
Seven percent thought the islands should adopt just the Māori names, while 22% thought they should officially be called both.
Both English and Māori names appeared on early official maps and documents, including those of Captain James Cook.
Aotearoa - widely known and accepted as the Māori name for New Zealand - is becoming increasingly widespread in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.
Ulster, Munster and Leinster
New Zealand’s main islands have also been known by other names in history, according to Donald Edgar Paterson, lecturer in jurisprudence and constitutional law at Victoria University in Wellington.
In the 1840s, New Zealand was divided into three provinces, Dr Edgar wrote in Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
The top of the North Island down to Patea River was New Ulster, from the river to the bottom of the South Island was New Munster and Stewart Island was New Leinster. This changed in 1852.
Traditions and stories
Māori leaders who have warmed to the board's idea of alternative naming, say it cements common Māori names and their traditional meaning in legislation.
Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon said Māori place names were "repositories of traditions and stories of the areas they represent" and that "the tribe supports the reinstatement of traditional place names".
Academic Ranginui Walker said that while there was nothing wrong with the English titles, they were "mundane and lacking in imagination".
Māori Language Commissioner Erima Henare said the title Te Ika a Maui was already commonly used, but he welcomed the board's decision to make it official. "It is a bold move, but not before its time."
Geographic Board consultation
The geographic board says it is aware there are mixed views on the matter and it expects to be able to publicly consult all New Zealanders on the names in 2010.
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