Parsing Aotearoa
From my Maori dictionary -
Ao :: Cloud
Tea :: White
Roa :: Long
Aotearoa is a compound word. In strict Maori grammar the
adjective follows the noun. Here there are two adjectives following Cloud,
which I suppose satisfies the rule, in manufacturing the word AoTeaRoa.
Should the English language name of New Zealand now be
changed to CloudWhiteLong or CloudLongWhite? Or would the language bigots and
trolls be satisfied with LongWhiteCloud? Where LongWhiteCloud has a distinct
North American Indian sound to it. No disrespect to North American Indians.
Next time you order a coffee ask for a CloudWhiteLong. Your
coffee man might not know what you are on about.
Should Aotea Square in Auckland be known as
CloudWhiteSquare? Or is it SquareWhiteCloud? Meet me at CloudWhiteSquare. Where
is that?
Recall the flag debate? A lot of reputations were damaged in
John Key’s personal image and vanity project. Did the bigots and trolls then
say “If we can’t change the flag let’s see if we can change the name”.
Winston Peters is proposing a Bill to eliminate use of the
name Aotearoa. Not before time. Is he is laying the groundwork for the New
Zealand name to be an issue in next year’s election campaign? What else could
he do given the name of his party?
I hope the bill does not get the same treatment as the
Treaty Principles bill. ACT must have known all along the TP bill would fail
and ACT has now probably lost votes. Their whole TP effort was so tentative and
understated as to be utterly dead on arrival. If National does not support the
Name bill it all goes the other way and creates a vote-catcher for NZ First.
That is all dependent on whether the bill makes it out of the members bill draw
cum raffle.
Why haven’t the coalition Ministers set about using their
Ministerial Instructions power? Not sure what is standing in the way there. The
coalition seems to be tip-toeing around and sidestepping the main issue on too
many fronts. There is much more than the simple name issue to deal with. What
is the main issue? Sovereignty, Co-governance, Maori Separatism.
This year’s
Local Body election referendums on Maori Wards will provide a lead on where to
progress with the main issue. The Maori Separatist movement is standing out
there in plain sight while trying to convince us that it does not really exist.
And where so many politicians on all sides are either ignoring it or supporting
it. My guess and hope is that wiser heads among the voters will prevail to see
the elimination of Maori wards. A first step towards taking separatism out of
the overall equation. So as to convince Maori that their place is at all times
assured within the wider culture – as are all other cultures.
Back to AoTeaRoa. In this debate my main point is simply
that: What is the point? I have heard nothing to convince me there is an
overwhelming need to change the name of New Zealand. No social or economic
advantages. Zero substantial reasons. There is no confusion anywhere over the
name as it is. The name is the name, is the name.
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