New Zealand's North and South Islands officially nameless for now
Updated
As far as place names go, it doesn't get much simpler or more easy to pronounce than the North and South Islands of New Zealand, but the New Zealand's Geographic Board has discovered the names 'North and South' have never been written down anywhere in the country's legislation, making them un-official. Now there are moves towards giving New Zealand's two main islands dual names in English and Maori.
Presenter Kerri Ritchie
Speakers: Author Keith Darroch, New Zealand's Geographic Board Chairman Don Grant
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KERRIE RITCHIE: Even if you can't read a map and or have no sense of direction, you can't really go wrong with place names like 'North Island' and 'South Island'. But Keith Darroch, an author who lives in Christchurch, believes those names just don't cut it. He's been campaigning for 10 years for the islands to be given alternatives in Maori.
KEITH DARROCH: You can't force people to use one name, a Maori name, if they want to use a descriptive name. People would have the option of using either name.
KERRIE RITCHIE: Mr Darroch believes referring to them as just 'North' and 'South' island is culturally insensitive.
KEITH DARROCH: North and South are only descriptive names. There will be alternative Maori names. And the precedent for this was that on Captain Cook's chart in 1770, there were Maori names. Those Maori names were on all maps of New Zealand until the 1850s, when, in the colonial era, they decided they would wipe the Maori names.
KERRIE RITCHIE: Mr Darroch put in an application to New Zealand's Geographic Board for alternative names to be adopted. He wants the North Island renamed Aotearoa, which is used at the moment by locals and in tourist brochures as the Maori word for the entire country. He believes the South Island should be called Te Wai Pounamu.
KEITH DARROCH: 'Te' means the article 'the'. 'Wai' is 'water' but not just any water; water that has spiritual qualities, like water that is drinkable. And 'Pounamu' is the greenstone, or jade. So this name has a lot more depth of spirituality and meaning.
KERRIE RITCHIE: While looking over Mr Darroch's application, the Geographic Board discovered that the names North and South aren't actually in any New Zealand legislation. Don Grant is Chairman of New Zealand's Geographic Board.
DON GRANT: Well, the names 'North' and 'South' Island, they are used on all - they appear on all our maps, and people obviously use them all the time. It's only when you get to the point of considering whether there should be alternatives to them, that we need to go through a process of saying, "Well, what should those alternatives be?" And our plan is to go out to Iwi and ask them what the traditional names are for these islands so that we can come up with a proper, most appropriate alternative and then consult with the people of New Zealand as to what that alternative should be.
KERRIE RITCHIE: Don Grant says the process could take up to a year, but it's important to get it right.
DON GRANT: The South Island has had several names over the years. It was, for a long time, called 'Middle island', up to about 1907.
KERRIE RITCHIE: On the streets of Christchurch, most people seemed open to the idea of dual names.
WOMAN: I think it's important to acknowledge the Maori culture.
MAN #1: I think Maori names is what makes New Zealand different to any other country.
KERRIE RITCHIE: One Kiwi couldn't resist his chance at a dig at Aussies.
MAN #2: Calling it the South Island makes it, you know, it's a bit, it's a bit simple really: South Island, North Island. Probably helps Australian tourists, but, ah, it doesn't do much more than that for us.
KERRIE RITCHIE: But one New Zealand mayor isn't happy. Michael Laws has labelled the Geographic Board "a pack of cultural zealots". The Wanganui Mayor is angry about a recent decision by the board to add the letter 'h' to the spelling of his city's name, so it can return to its traditional Maori spelling. But if Keith Darroch gets his way, the South Island will soon be known as Te Wai Pounamu, and many Kiwis will have their work cut out for them getting it right.
MAN #3: Te Wai Pounamu?
MAN #4: Te Wai Ponamu?
WOMAN #2: Te Wai Ponanamu! (LAUGHS)
