The choice to use traditional names goes down pretty well
New Plymouth may have had an unenviable ‘‘redneck’’ reputation in the past but the renaming of six of the city’s landmarks with dual Maori/European names has received an overwhelmingly positive response.
Even the majority of comments on Facebook, the social media hub where discussions can turn caustic on a dime, were in favour of the dual naming.
It’s great people have a choice about what name to use, said former New Plymouth District councillor Howie Tamati, who will stand for the Maori party in the Te Tai Hauauru electorate in the general election later this year.
‘‘It’s a very smart way of working.’’ It was similar to what happened with naming the mountain, he said.
‘‘There was a huge outcry from people, but they were given the choice of Egmont Taranaki or Taranaki Egmont and over a period of time people did get used to the name Taranaki.
‘‘Now you hear the mountain called Taranaki the majority of the time.’’
Having the dual names was a non confrontational way of doing it, Tamati said.
‘‘From a Maori perspective the names were superseded by English names, now the opportunity has come up to use the traditional names.’’
Lance Girling-Butcher was the Taranaki Daily News editor who issued the instruction to call the mountain Taranaki in news stories.
‘‘The mountain name was a debate that had gone on for some time. Before my time as editor a poll came out overwhelmingly against changing the name.
‘‘But by time I got round to do it Taranaki was being used more often than not. People had got used to it,’’ Girling-Butcher said.
There was no fanfare - he just did it, he said, and no one complained.
Changing names is something people have to get used to, he said.
‘‘People have to learn them and they have to become part of what they say naturally. You need a migration from one to the other. We have the opportunity to call them by either name and see what happens over time.’’
Te Kotahitanga Te Atiawa chairwoman Liana Poutu said most of the Maori names were traditional names that described the physical landscape.
Autere - East End Beach - means like a strong, fast wind and Maungaroa - Blagdon Hill - describes a long hill.
Roto is the Maori word for lake or pond, so Rotokare for Barrett Lagoon, she said.
Other names like Pukaka - Marsland Hill - was the preEuropean name for that area and Otumaikuku was the name of the pa that was originally on the site where the old Barrett St Hospital buildings are now.
‘‘They’re not new names we’ve come up with. And they’re not translations.
‘‘They are the traditional names that were used prior to the European names being put on there.’’
New Plymouth used to be called Ngamotu, which has to do with islands off the coast, she said.
‘‘I think it’s absolutely appropriate traditional names be recognised.
‘‘For a long time they haven’t been.
‘‘Most of them are dual names, so it’s not about replacing names that are commonly used, but to help people understand they had names in the past.’’