Creating Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud
Britain’s domination of Aotearoa started with the name New Zealand. Today with 70,000 signatures to change the name New Zealand to Aotearoa, the Māori people are certainly calling for change.
“Naming of the world is ‘an act of creation; it must not serve as a crafty instrument for domination of one man by another.’” (Rameka and Paul-Burke)
Every country creates its own path towards a modern united society. New Zealand is not perfect, however, it is a strong example of how to slowly remove the effects of colonization from the future. When addressing colonial history, reparations are an important part of the discussion. The question of reparations so often focuses on monetary values. Renaming New Zealand is a reparation of a different kind. Renaming returns heritage, language, and pride to the Māori people. These sorts of reparations are catalysts to a series of changes that create a better future.
What if the change to Aotearoa is in closer reach than we realize because of the British colonists? When we look at the politics within New Zealand, the Māori have gained many strengths in the last 50 years. We must consider that the actual colonisation of New Zealand is a key part to why it’s doing so well. The Treaty of Waitangi was made in 1840 between Great Britain and Māori Chiefs. The treaty was originally written to promise that New Zealand would be a bicultural colony. This meant Māori people were to hold all the rights of a British citizen, which was rare. The British Empire saw all indigenous people of the countries they colonised to be lesser than them. Giving the rights of a British citizen to the Māori was Britain’s attempt at a peaceful joining of European and Māori culture.
Despite the treaty’s promise being broken quickly after it was made, the Treaty of Waitangi returned to strength in 1975. Although the Treaty is not a part of New Zealand’s constitution it is widely considered to be. The Treaty of Waitangi Act of 1975 allowed any Māori can take a claim to the Tribunal that they have been disadvantaged by any legislation, policy or practice of the Crown since 1840. Being able to address the wrongs of the past within the government creates the opportunity for political change. The Treaty of Waitangi Act gives more power to Māori people within the government.
2004 made more political strides for Māori People with the beginning of the Te Pāti Māori. The sole focus of this political party is to advocate for Māori rights within the government. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, a current co-leaders of Te Pāti Māori, spoke upon the issue of renaming New Zealand: “It’s really important that we dismantle some of the grips of colonisation that have hindered our ability to reach our true potential.” Britain has been sovereign of New Zealand since 1840 removing the name will remove the domination Britain has had for centuries.
Te Pāti Māori is looking to divorce the crown. Stepping away from the British Empire to become a republic weakens the strength that colonial history has over Aotearoa. However, since the 1870’s, the number of Pakeha (white New Zealanders) has outweighed Māori. To break away from Britain, Pakeha must embrace the creation of a new country Aotearoa alongside Māori people. To achieve this we have to use the strength of the Treaty of Waitangi Act to create lasting cultural change.
The strength of the Treaty of Waitangi does not only lie within modern politics. The small strength of the treaty was that New Zealand was founded as a bicultural country socially. Māori and Pakeha were never segregated. Despite the education of Māori culture being incredibly harmful, Māori culture was acknowledged to exist. Now education has changed. Positive and full Māori culture is taught within schools. This has broken down the harmful stereotypes placed on young Māori people. The change has created new generations of Māori people to accept and embrace their culture.
The “ability for us to reclaim not just our language, but to lift the trauma of colonisation, to lift the unwellness that comes with the loss of your culture and the loss of self identity.” The north and south islands of Aotearoa had different customs and languages, through more accurate education Māori people have come together to make Te Reo Māori the official Māori language. Reclamation of Māori community has created positive momentum in large numbers to back political and social change for the improvement of Māori rights.
Changing to Aotearoa will showcase the Māori language to the world and ultimately create interest in the culture. Māori culture has been on showcase since 1888. When the All Blacks (New Zealand National rugby team) toured Great Britain and Europe, they performed the Haka at the beginning of every match. The Haka is a Māori war dance, it is performed to challenge and intimidate the opposition to the fight. It has been performed at every away match and from 1986 it was performed at home as well. The Haka is performed by all players on the team regardless if they are Pakeha or Māori.
To showcase an intimidating part of Māori culture which at the time was deemed uncivilized showed early acceptance of Māori people in New Zealand. This acceptance has continued to prevail and is a proud part of New Zealand. The Haka has been accepted as a key part of Pakeha’s New Zealand culture for a long time, not only do the All Blacks perform the Haka but it is performed by students before school level rugby matches. If an intimidating part of Māori culture can be accepted so quickly by Pakeha people what is stopping them from supporting the name Aotearoa?
We should consider Aotearoa a reparation for Māori people. When we think of reparations we should consider cultural or social repairs or even changes to legislation or constitution for lasting change. When Britain placed their flag in the Queen Charlotte Sound they claimed New Zealand to dominate the country. Māori people want to claim Aotearoa to create a new world, a world that addresses its difficult past but moves forward positively.
Works Cited
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