The name is up for debate due to the country’s colonial history. aotearoa (that’s how you pronounce it) is the name the original Maori people gave to the country. Loosely translated, it means ‘land of the long white cloud’. The Maoris were the first to inhabit the island kingdom, centuries before a European set foot there.
Dutch province
New Zealand is a derivative of the Dutch province of Zeeland. The name comes from the 17th-century Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who came across land in the Pacific Ocean during a voyage commissioned by the VOC. Parks, mountains and rivers have since been named after Tasman, as well as the Australian island of Tasmania.
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Today there is opposition to the names that were invented at the time. Like the Cook Islands, named after the English explorer James Cook, where in 1994 a referendum voted against a name change.
In New Zealand, the Maori party started last September a petition to officially change the name to Aotearoa. That petition has now been signed more than 70,000 times and is therefore formally being considered by the New Zealand parliament.
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‘horrible history’
“We were one of the last countries to be colonized by the British,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, a leading Maori party MP and one of the petition’s initiators. “It was a horrible part of our history when the indigenous Maori people were almost wiped out. We lost our land, our language to understand each other and our spirituality to stay healthy. Everything we are was banned.”
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According to Ngarewa-Packer, this ultimately created a trauma between generations. “As a result, we now have poorer statistics in economic, social, educational and health areas.” Her Maori party wants the country’s government to designate the names of towns and cities, and therefore the entire country, in Maori by 2026.
Incidentally, this is happening more and more often. The Maori culture – best known in the Netherlands for its tattoos and the haka (the traditional war dance for rugby matches) – can now be seen in many places in present-day New Zealand.
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Fun action in Vlissingen
But why the name change now? Ngarewa-Packer: “Because the name is Maori and reflects our nation better than a name given by a man who never lived here. Reclaiming our language, our names, is about reminding the world and ourselves of our identity. And to remove the trauma caused by colonization.”
The activist politician is supported by artist Hohepa ‘Hori’ Thompson. He recently traveled all the way to Zeeland for a fun action. Once he arrived at a pier in Vlissingen, he screwed a sign to two posts. “To the people of Zealand, I return the name New Zealand to you. The name of our country is Aotearoa,” it read.
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Opponents in the majority
But there are also opponents of the name change. According to the center-right National Party and right-wing ACT, there is little popular support. National Party leader Christopher Luxon put forward the idea of a referendum. But that would be unfair to the Maori, according to Ngarewa-Packer, as they now represent only 17 percent of the population as a result of colonization.
A poll last year showed that a majority of New Zealanders were not ready for a new name. More than half (58 percent) indicated that they would like to keep the current name. On the other hand, 9 percent argued for ‘Aotearoa’, and 31 percent for the combination ‘Aotearoa-New Zealand’.
Patient
In addition, there is the controversial right-wing campaign group Hobson’s Pledge, led by former politician Don Brash, which has for years argued that Maori are favored. He himself started a petition against the intended name change, which he ‘a disgrace’ calls. His petition has now been supported more than 59,000 times,
Ngarewa-Packer continues to believe that it will someday happen. “A few years ago we fought for the new national holiday Matariki [gevierd op de dag dat de oorspronkelijke Maori-bewoners nieuwjaar vierden – red.] and that has been laid down in law this year. We are patient people and have learned to do the right thing. Eventually it happens. All it takes is the right people.”
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Not for the first time
Countries that change their name are of all times. Most recently the name of Macedonia changed officially in North Macedonia, the result of a decades-long discussion with neighboring Greece. These countries preceded North Macedonia, often because of their colonial history:
1939: Siam becomes Thailand
1964: Northern Rhodesia becomes Zambia
1971: East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh
1980: Southern Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe
1984: Upper Volta becomes Burkina Faso
1989: Burma becomes Myanmar
1997: Zaire renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo
2018: Swaziland wordt Eswatini
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