I’m an avid newsreader but I guess it must be the ravages of age for somehow I missed the referendum or Act of Parliament or whatever which formally changed our country’s name.
I say that as Wellington’s dying Dominion Post and increasingly in the Herald, plus politicians, sports administrators et el, this year all now only refer to the name of our country as Aotearoa. No-one told me about this change.
New Zealand is of course a ridiculous name, as I’ve written in the past. Aotearoa sounds much better but is also absurd. Who wants to come from a country called the “Land of the Long White Cloud”?
Given there was no pre-European sense of nation by maoridom, and that they constitute 15% of our population, any change should reflect the reality, specifically that we’re an English-speaking country. But most important of all in a democracy, a name-change should be the choice of the people by referendum. And while I’m on this subject, why in God’s name have we allowed our country’s representative colour be black?
15 Comments
In both cases of your angst it is down to our gutless Woke members of parliament bending over 24/7 to appease a militant and extremely vociferous part— Maori minority.
In addition note should be taken of the rapidly increasing racism toward all non part — Maori in all areas of everyday life.
Health care being the latest but also admittance to medical and dental courses at our universities to name just a couple of examples.
I could go on all day with a plethora of others
It’s about trying to make Maori people feel better because, as the “elites” really believe, they are inferior losers (note, real belief = what we feel. Not what we think). What’s stealth, more than anything, is the depth of the racism within our chattering classes.
Good question Bob, Black (colour) by definition is absence of colour/ light and was always flown on pirate ships flags as they didn’t want to reveal their nationality. What an awful colour to paint anything no less our National carriers planes. Oh I know….as a minority I hear now pronounce our national colour to be rainbow…..there that ought to fix all our indifferences!!
New Zealand may be ridiculous in your view, but it is well established, and for that reason alone should stay. I say leave well alone. Aotearoa might sound better to you, certainly not to me, but more importantly its hexasyllabic and therefore challenging for foreigners unfamiliar with the word: like Czechoslovakia.
The legend is, back near the turn of the 20th century, or so. The NZ rugby team was in England. They were asked about the team, and someone, maybe manager or coach said the team was made up of ” all backs”, no forwards. That got mis-heard to “all blacks”.
What is the correct story?
“Slowly but surely.” Thankfully I am getting old, tired of having Maoridom stuck down my throat. Listen to Radio NZ, almost like listening to a class of Te Reo. I agree, there is a definite push to incorporate Te Reo into our everyday lives. “Morena, whanau, so on and so on. Our English heritage is being eroded, “slowly but surely.” I am a New Zealander with both Maori and English ancestry, happy for our Maori New Zealanders to learn and use their language, but let me choose how I wish to speak, and call our country New Zealand. Furthermore, why change our towns’ names to a language the majority can’t pronounce, and actually aren’t interested in doing so.
Black is no colour, fitting for New Zealand, particularly after the current clowns have had their way.
As for Land of the Wrong White Crown; that also will come to pass.
As an avid reader Sir Bob, you may have The Penguin History of New Zealand by Michael King on your bookshelves. Chapter 3 (“The great New Zealand myth”) addresses “the notion that the Maori name for New Zealand…was Aotearoa.” Whatever one’s views today, it’s fascinating to read the work of professional historians. And the more clearly to see ‘history’ constantly reshaped to suit the present needs of whoever’s pushing whatever agenda, seeking to frame different narratives to get their way.
Overseas tourists ,if any ever come back again, will be confused!
1Law4All says “Pre-1840 the Maoris did not have a name for the whole of New Zealand as they had no sense of a Maori nation – just tribes. In 1643 the country was named New Zealand by the States-General (Parliament) of Holland and this has been its name for 377 years. “Aotearoa” as a fanciful name for New Zealand began only on 1890 when S. Percy Smith used it as a made-up name for the whole country in his fictional story of Kupe. The word “Aotearoa” did not appear in the Treaty of Waitangi – for obvious reasons.”
Jeez have you ever sat through country after country marching past at the Olympics till we get to NZ.
So Aotearoa or maybe even Aaotearoa has to be near the start, definitely before Australia & Austria and then time to do better things.
Win, win and the woke off our backs for ten minutes
I wondered if the Long White Cloud was one of the volcanoes venting a warning-stay away you silly buggers. What do you think of Aussies suing people for taking people to a LIVE volcano- Duh -aren’t they inherently dangerous. Interesting that Capt/Lieutenant Cook is getting all the stick when the country was named by a Dutchman.
New Zealand the precious pretentious precocious schoolgirl.
TV these days is 99% utter crap,(1% operating the remote) but if you happen to see how many adds have a white woman and brown skin male , take note the white woman pretty much carries the punch line and is ever so slightly superior to the brown skin male.
It makes me laugh that these woke females only take their fairness as far as making themselves “ever so kind…but just slightly superior”.
…”i’m deeply “O”fended by that statement , how dare you”…
…”too late sweetheart its already out there”.
We are in danger of losing sight of the fact that history is just that ” history ”
‘Sense of nation” to be expected of Maori or any indigenous race or colonising force is laughable. !
The human nature is and always will be ” I will do what is best for myself “.
With our modern ‘rose tinted glasses’ and woke indulgent society , this has developed into an appetite to change the past.
What was done , was done !
We can’t change the past !
Let’s take those small steps to a more enlightened and tolerant future. !
Black as a national colour is an abomination. It is the colour of Islamic State or ISIS, and whoever changed the colour of the Air New Zealand aircraft from the beautiful blue green (of the Pacific) to the current horrendous black, should be hanged drawn and quartered.