just change the nothing names

The renaming of the islands of this country by the europeans has always bugged me. South Island and North Island - it doesn't get blander than that. News that the indigenous names are being considered is good because they mean something, they have context. It is a great irony that I live in Golden Bay, europeans have called this bay Murderers Bay, Blind Bay, Massacre Bay, Coal Bay and then Golden Bay - the Māori name is Mohua which is a golden headed endemic bird on the back of the NZ $100 note. They didn't need and didn't have the authority to change the names - they should have just used the names that were here when they arrived but that's colonisation for you.

The shocker about the 'North' and "South' Islands is that those names were never official in the first place as the NZGB says

Scoop

NZGB Chair Dr Don Grant says the move follows the receipt of a proposal to change the name ‘South Island’ to its original Māori name ‘Te Waipounamu’ and to consider the original Māori name of the North Island at the same time.

“At that time we noted that the existing English names were recorded names, rather than official names. They appeared on LINZ’s maps, charts and other official publications but had never been formalised under the NZGB Act.

So we go to a consultation process and the outcome of that will be a compromise of

meaning that either the English name or the Māori name, or both names together could be used as official.

FFS just change the names into ‘Te Ika-a-Māui’ (for the North Island) and ‘Te Waipounamu’ (for the South Island). Who in their right mind is attached to 'North' and 'South' - it is completely bogus and an insult to Māori.

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