New Zealand is about to change its name?
WLThe petition, which was launched on Wednesday, September 15, has sparked controversy in New Zealand. Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, co-leaders of the Te Pāti Maori party, made a very specific request. According to elected officials, New Zealand should be renamed “Aotearoa”, the name of the country related to the Maori language international mail.
The use of this name is common in New Zealand, and is particularly present in the name of the rugby union competition, Super Rugby Aotearoa, organized by the New Zealand Federation. However, the traditional language is not officially the country’s first language. Through his petition, the Māori Party called on the government to rename the country’s cities and regions to the indigenous language, thus excluding the current English language. ” we, aborigines [peuples autochtones]We are tired of our ancestors’ names being misused, distorted and ignored,” the text’s bearers said in a press release. international mail.
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According to the political party, only 20% of the Maori population (850 thousand people) speak the indigenous language. Among the general population, the proportion of New Zealanders speaking Maori, New Zealand’s second official language for nearly 50 years, has fallen to 3%. “It’s time to T Rio Maori [la langue maorie] regains its rightful place as the first official language of this country,” Rawiri Waititi and Debi Ngariwa Packer asserted, believing that the name Aotearoa “will unite our country rather than divide it.”
The erasure of Maori in favor of the English language would result from the colonial policy of New Zealand, a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. In response, the Māori party is asking to extend the formalization of the traditional language by 2026, by changing the name of the localities, but also by facilitating access to this language in the media, advertising and schools. as mentioned CNewsThe Prime Minister of New Zealand spoke about this. “I hear more and more about Aotearoa being used interchangeably with New Zealand and that’s a positive thing. Whether we change it in the law or not, it doesn’t change the fact that New Zealanders are increasingly referring to Aotearoa, it’s a welcome transition,” said Jacinda Ardern. Watchman.
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