Jim Bunny Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

I was warned. It would cause a right old stink if I went down that track. Did I really want to be in the crosshairs of every yokel in town? Did I really want to be branded a woke, radical, anti-NZ leftie?

Probably not.

But then many a good idea starts with one provocative step. And so now, I bravely step.

Why is Greerton called Greerton? Why is Cameron Road, Cameron Road? And for that matter Grey Street, Grey Street? And why do those place and street names not reflect the first people of the land, the beautiful te reo Maori language and culture gifted us, and the history that shapes and defines this city, and sets us gloriously apart.

Greerton was named for Lieutenant H.H. (Henry Harpur) Greer, commander of the British forces that fought the Battle of Gate Pa.

Cameron Road was named for General Sir Duncan Alexander Cameron, who apparently also led British troops during the Battle of Gate Pa.

But there were two sides engaged in that conflict. So why were the land-grabbing, imperialist, colonisers honoured ahead of Maori who were defending their land, their culture, their people? Why isn't Greerton called Puhirake for Rawiri Tuaia Puhirake, the man who rallied Maori resistance and inflicted a humiliating defeat on the invaders despite being vastly outnumbered.

Or why isn't Cameron Road named for Piwharangi, the Maori chief whose body was found a few days after the battle. I just raise the question.

And does Grey Street deserve to be Grey Street just because Sir George Grey was a Governor of New Zealand?

Did he have any special attachment to Tauranga? Did he make a contribution that demanded him being memorialised in this town? Maybe!… because he did drop in and speak of a 'desire for the two races to be at peace”. A noble thought.

I did a litmus test with my ‘cultural advisor' and he just chuckled and warned against 'stirring that pot”.

'Let's not agitate over what has been,” he said sagely. 'Let's look positively to the future.” I am not trying to rewrite history… just tweak an imbalance.

An email

Then a few things happened. An email did a low pass over my desk. Apparently SunLive had reported 'Waikorire also known as Pilot Bay” in a story about the grounding of a yacht, causing one reader to spontaneously combust. 'It is mainly known as Pilot Bay,” he reminded us. 'And as this is a maritime issue, this needs to be written with the official navigation names under maritime law.” Really? So all our stories in, on or around saltwater need to be skewed for sailors only?

'No maps are in Te Reo,” continued the grumble. 'Aotearoa is NOT (sic) on any map or GPS as it is not valid under maritime law. This (SunLive) article should be corrected and reposted with an apology to sailors.”

Well, that ain't going to happen.

Our stories are not official maritime bulletins just for those in peril on the sea.

His parting shot was perhaps tell-tale.

'Stop being so woke…”

So stop being alert to injustice in society, especially racism. Did that comment whiff of something a little more sinister than upset about our use of one of the nation's three official languages?

Our correspondent won't be re-locating to Hamilton anytime soon. That city, in its wisdom, is renaming a street and a local park from old and irrelevant colonial militia names to ones 'gifted by mana whenua”.

Gustavus von Temspky was a flambouyant guy… a Prussian water colourist, an adventurer and a hired gun.

But now von Tempksy has gone from von Tempsky Street in Hamilton. And Dawson has gone from Dawson Park.

Locals describe it as 'an historical reset, a symbolic redress for the historical confiscation of lands”. Perhaps we should consider an historical reset?

And it's interesting it was a Pakeha Hamilton businessman and chemist, Ian McMichael, who was one of the driving forces. He believes it's was 'the right thing to do”.

Why do so many of us find the 'right thing to do” such a hard thing to do?

Spelling mistake

Von Tempsky Street now becomes Puutikitiki Street; and Dawson Park,
Te Wehenga Park.

'These names now go back to the original inhabitants of the lands and allow their memories to be honoured.”

Down in Nelson a 180-year-old spelling mistake is being put right. Emano Street was named after Te Manu, the Ngati Tama chief of Wakapuaka.The name was bastardised along the way – recorded as E Manu and then becoming Emano as in Emano Street. Right-minded people are pushing for wrong to be righted.

And now former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley is backing a proposal to change Russell, the nation's first capital, to the original name of Kororareka.

It's just about understanding and appreciating our history, knowing where we come from, so we can forge confidently ahead. Why can't Tauranga embrace the model, put right the wrongs of the past?

Someone suggested recently that it's a generational problem.

'But every time someone in a Tauranga resthome or retirement home dies, we are one person closer to changing old entrenched attitudes.”

What are your thoughts? Message the burrow at: hunter@thesun.co.nz