Coastal Bay of Plenty could be changed to Te Moananui ā Toi if Te Pāti Māori's petition on place names passes. Photo / File
Coastal Bay of Plenty could be changed to Te Moananui ā Toi if Te Pāti Māori's petition on place names passes. Photo / File
A petition to restore place names to the original te reo Māori could see the Bay of Plenty coastal region called Te Moananui ā Toi.
Te Pati Māori (The Māori Party) launched an online petition this morning, gaining 4000 signatures in the first three hours.
The petition calls for the House of Representatives to change the country's official name to Aotearoa and officially restore the te reo Māori names for all towns, cities, and other place names.
Te Pati Māori co-leader and Waiariki MP Rawiri Waititi said if the petition passed, the coastal Bay of Plenty region would be called Te Moananui ā Toi.
This would cover Katikati to Whangaparāoa (Cape Runaway).
The name Toi, of Te Moananui ā Toi, comes from Toi-te-Huatahi who is an ancestor believed to be the first to voyage to the region, landing in the Whakatāne area bringing the first manuka tree, Waititi said.
He said most tribes in the country whakapapa have genealogical links to Toi-te-Huatahi.
"The Bay of Plenty - plenty of what? Plenty of people who are jobless? Plenty of people who are homeless? Plenty of emergency housing and transitional housing? Plenty of MIQ?
"This is a change of attitudes, a return to names that have a particular spiritual meaning, and names that we can all be proud of."
He said when people said where they came from, the Māori names would translate "all of the korero, beauty and narrative" held in the name.
He said the tangata whenua never saw the land in the big regions, but rather as rohe (iwi boundaries) and independent of iwi.
Te Pati Māori MP Rawiri Waititi. Photo / File
He said individual iwi would have to decide which names would need to be reinstated, and all iwi in the Bay of Plenty would need to come together to decide which names they would like reinstated.
The names that towns and cities would change to would be determined by iwi and hapu, not by Te Pati Māori, he said.
"This is about iwi and hapu being in control of the restoration of their names and giving them the mana to do that."
He said while there had been racist rhetoric towards the petition, they were focusing on those who saw the change as positive and one which would unite the country.
"There seems to be a movement for change, and that's not just by tangata whenua, but tangata tiriti who are non-Māori."
"People only see a name, but actually this is an attitude shift to an equitable and equal Aotearoa for all."
The change would be a "realignment" to the country's Polynesian heritage.
"This isn't anything new, or anything scary we don't know anything about. It's not the coronavirus, it's the return back to a name that's been in existence for thousands of years."
He said New Zealand was a Dutch name, and said it was ironic that the Dutch government decided to stop describing itself as Holland and instead use only its real name, The Netherlands, in 2019.
Rotorua Lakes Councillor Trevor Maxwell, of Ngāti Rangiwewehi Iwi ō Te Arawa, believed the focus should be on achieving Aotearoa first.
Rotorua Lakes Councillor Trevor Maxwell of Ngāti Rangiwewehi Iwi ō Te Arawa. Photo / File
"Dealing with the name of the whole place, Aotearoa, I think that's what we should be supporting at this time."
He said trying to do too much at once could "muddy the waters".
"We should stick to the one that can gain traction right now. The other things can be for another time."
