What if the name of the country was changed to Aotearoa?

The New Zealand Its name may soon be changed to Aotearoa. As the site says quartz, the political party Te Pati Maori petitioned to return the country to its former Maori name. An increasingly large portion of the population considers it important for the nation to rediscover its Maori roots, and thus extract itself from the culture imposed by English colonists.

Friday , petition It has already collected 70,000 signatures, which means it can be legally considered by the House of Representatives. The Te Pāti Māori party also wants to change the names of cities and monuments in New Zealand, and, of course, chooses Maori words.

A strong message to the identity of the island

Aotearoa has a strong historical and cultural meaning: this word refers to the first clouds that Polynesian navigators saw while sailing away from shore, which would have directed them to their future island. The country was first discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, before it was claimed by the British Crown and took the name “New Zealand” in 1840.

Today, the designation Aotearoa will increasingly be used by the inhabitants of the country in everyday life and in administration. A change that would make sense, according to Debi Ngariwa Packer, co-leader of Te Pati Māori, who states Interview with NPR “It’s really important that we break up some of my drivers colonization that hindered our ability to reach our true potential.” She hopes the change will have “a tremendous positive impact on our ability, not only to restore our language, but also to lift the trauma of colonialism.”