A packed public gallery yesterday saw the Invercargill City Council accept Mayor Nobby Clark’s proposal to approach bilingual naming of the city’s civic buildings with a new paper.
An iwi delegation of about 30 people attended the meeting which addressed Mr Clark’s proposed motion to address naming and renaming civic buildings.
The proposal said some buildings had an unequal focus on te reo, and some naming had the initial name in te reo, creating confusion.
Approved names in te reo Māori should not be "metaphorical" and "denote something not relevant to the building or service provided", the proposal said.
Off the back of comments made by Mr Clark at a Stop Co-Governance meeting at the weekend in relation to Māori, the public forum was emotionally charged.
Former councillor and deputy mayor Toni Biddle told counsellors the mayor’s proposal was "awful" and "divisive to the community".
She said while reading the motion, she felt a sense of sadness and thought about her father, Aperahama Biddle.
"That was the birth name that he was given, but no-one could pronounce it.
"So you know what they did, they took it away from him and they called him Bruce.
"He had that name for the rest of his life until I received his birth certificate when he passed at the age of 80 and learned that his name was Aperahama."
She said if the council wanted to name a building in te reo Māori, they should be allowed to and people should not have to fight for that.
Waihopai Runaka chairman Cyril Gilroy addressed the council in te reo.
"What’s wrong with that?" he said.
"We learned English. We had to learn English, because we were told to in school.
"We’re not asking you to learn te reo Māori, we’re not telling you to learn te reo Māori ."
Cr Tom Campbell said he supported the initiative and commended Mr Clark for being the first mayor to bring the proposal to the table, but said it is a divisive issue of which language appears first.
"It is perceived - often subconscious - as a symbol of cultural dominance or cultural subservience by members of both communities."
He also noted the name of the civic administration building, Te Hinaki Civic Building, which could be translated to "eel pot" and suggested something slippery, evil and cunning to English speakers.
Mana whenua council representative Evelyn Cook said it also meant sustenance and nourishment.
Cr Barry Stewart said his problem with the te reo naming of buildings was tourists would have to ask people what the building names meant.
Councillors accepted the motion with a change to the proposal for the council to develop a paper to support the bilingual approach, in consultation with the runaka.
