Arbitrary criterion – NRC

Historian Marjolein van Pagee argues for changing the colonial name of New Zealand to the original Maori name Aotearoa (11/8). New Zealand’s name certainly dates back to European colonialism; however, it is not true that Māori traditionally referred to the territory of the current state as Aotearoa. This state is in itself a colonial construction, and the question is whether the current Maori population would therefore want to abandon New Zealand as a unitary state. Incidentally, there would be few countries on earth that would keep their present name if the undesirability of a colonial past were the criterion. New Zealand’s neighbors Australia, Indonesia (the name is no less European colonial than the incriminating Dutch East Indies!) and the Philippines, for example, should be renamed; with what name, is unclear because these states also had no pre-colonial predecessors. We are not even talking about the countries of North, Central and South America. Even the name of the American continents is European colonial (16th century) as are Asia, Africa (classical antiquity) and – more recently – Antarctica.

EJ van Ginkel

Conduct