Cook Islands considers name change
The Cook Islands is considering ditching its name and replacing it with something that more reflects its Polynesian culture.
The Pacific nation, with a population of 17,500, was named after British explorer Captain James Cook in 1835, sixty years after he arrived there.
The islands, which are 2,000 miles northeast of New Zealand, were a British protectorate from 1888 until 1900 before becoming part of New Zealand. They are now self-governing, but have close ties to New Zealand.
Previous attempts to change the name have been unsuccessful. In 1994, a referendum to change the name to Avaiki Nui was defeated.
But the latest move is the first time people from all 12 inhabited islands have had a say.
A committee has been set to find a new indigenous name to reflect its culture and 60 proposed names have been submitted by the public.
The original idea was to have an indigenous name featuring alongside the existing Cook Islands name, but committee chairman Danny Mataroa said this week that there is a lot of support for dropping the Cook reference altogether in favour of one in the local language.
He said: "When the committee members, which include Cook Islands historians and people with deep traditional knowledge, met we decided it was time we change the name of the country."
He added the new name ‘must be easy to say’.
Deputy Prime Minister Mark Brown told Radio New Zealand: "I’m quite happy to look at a traditional name for our country which more reflects the true Polynesian nature of our island nation."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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