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As the people of New Zealand confront their nation's troubled past with colonization and denying the Maori people rights, a name change for the island nation is being considered as a
part of its own reckoning. A petition that aims to change the Dutch anglicized name of New Zealand to its indigenous Maori designation of Aotearoa has collected more than 70,000 signatures,
prompting a parliamentary committee to consider the idea. New Zealand member of parliament Debbie Ngarewa-Packer , co-leader of The Maori Party, joined _All Things Considered _to elaborate
on the significance of this potential name change, the journey to indigenous cultural reclamation, and their hopes for the movement's success. _This interview has been edited for length
and clarity_ INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS ------------------------- ON WHAT THE WORD AOTEAROA MEANS It is indicative or prescriptive of the long white cloud of the island as it's depicted
often, and the weather that we have down at the end of the world. But most importantly, it reflects indigenously who we are, and that we are, in fact, in the Pacific, that we are an island
nation, and we're not in any way connected to the origins of New Zealand. ON WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE MAORI PARTY TO PUSH FOR A FORMAL NAME CHANGE It's really important that we
dismantle some of the grips of colonization that have hindered our ability to reach our true potential. And one of the biggest things that's reflected in some of the poorer states
across the nation is the lack of self-identity, is the lack of actually understanding even who the _tangata whenua_or Indigenous people, Maori of Aotearoa are. This is about resetting the
balance, and it's something that hasn't just come from the party. I'd love to take credit for it, but it's actually something it's been called on from some of our
oldest ancestors post-colonization, to us today. Some of the youngest generations are standing up, calling for this in the local schools. So it is very much an intergenerational pull. And
just as importantly, it's not just coming from Maori. We have _tangata tiriti_, those who arrived after indigenous people, who are also wanting to see the rebalance of our culture
reflected in the nationhood of Aotearoa. ON HOW RENAMING CAN HELP PRESERVE MAORI CULTURE It will have a massive positive impact on the ability for us to reclaim not just our language, but to
lift the trauma of colonization, to lift the unwellness that comes with the loss of your culture and the loss of self identity. So this is just about as much as the preservation of our
culture as it is the importance of the wellbeing of us as well. ON WHAT THE LAWMAKING PROCESS MAY LOOK LIKE The first thing is that it has to be accepted. And to have that, we're going
to need to have cross-party support, which is going to be a really big challenge because we have two parties that set towards center-left, two parties set towards center-right, and then
ourselves who are solely indigenously focused. So that takes a whole degree of lobbying, once you get through that obstacle, and it's a big_ if, _you then go to a select committee. Then
it goes for a massive debate process. [The process] could be months and months. Some of the parties that we have in the government, I think, would like to see a fusion, and a period of
being Aotearoa and New Zealand. But our response is, well, if not now, then when? ON HAVING HOPE FOR THE PETITION TO SUCCEED I have a lot of hope, and I think it will be interesting, because
we are still a young nation and we were the last of the nations across the world to be colonized. So we probably are going to go through things that we've seen other nations go through
to reclaim themselves. But the other part of this is that the Maori population, Pacifica population in Aotearoa are growing. We have 70% of our population under 40. 25% are under 20 years.
So what we have here is almost a generational battle as well. We have an older, very monocultural, focused generation that actually just don't want to change at all and have been raised
in an education system that didn't talk about Maori, that didn't acknowledge our culture and who were part and parcel of dismissing, and in fact legally banning our language,
legally confiscating land, legally putting us in some difficult situations. This isn't about taking anything from anyone. It's actually about lifting trauma and bringing to life a
culture that can enrich everyone's life in Aotearoa. Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.