Kua panaia te tono panoni i te ingoa o Massey, ahakoa he kaikiri taua tangata
I a Niu Tīreni e tohe ana kia panonihia tōna ingoa ki te ingoa o Aotearoa, e kore tētehi ingoa hou e utaina ki runga ki Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa.
Kua eke ki te 70,000 te nui o ngā waitohu kei te petihana i whakarewahia e Te pāti Māori hei panoni i te ingoa o Niu Tīreni ki te ingoa o Aotearoa. Heoi, me panoni te whare wānanga i tōna ingoa, a Massey, ki tōna ingoa Māori, a Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa? E ai ki ngā ākonga, he whakaiti te ingoa o te kaikiri rā a Massey, ēngari kāre te whare wānanga i te whakapono ēhara tōna ingoa i te whakatinanatanga o te whare wānanga.
Hei tā Rosie Koko, māngai mō te rōpū Māori o Manawatū, a Manawatahi, “Koinei te kaupapa e pīrangi nei tātou mō tā tātou whare wānanga?” E whakapono ana ia ko te mahi tika kia panonihia ngā ingoa e rua o te whenua me te whare wānanga ki ngā ingoa Māori. Ko ētahi kōrero kaikiri a te pirimia ō-mua, a William Massey, e kī ana, “ēhara ahau i te tangata aroha, whakamīharo atu rānei ki te iwi o Haina, me taku harikoa ki te rongo kāre e tipu ana te rahi o ngātāngato nō Haina i tēnei whenua”.
I whakaturehia te ture Rāhuitanga Hekenga-mai i tōna wā hei pirimia i te tau 1920, hei aukati i te hekenga mai o ngā tāngata nō Āhia. I taua tau tonu i kī ia, “mārakerake ana te kite ko tā mātou he hiahia kia parakore rawa tā mātou tiaki i te momo ā-iwi ki tēnei whenua”. I kī mai a Koko mō te ātaahua me te hōhonu kē o te tikanga o te ingoa Māori o Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa.
I takohangia te ingoa o Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa ki te whare wānanga i te tau 1997, e te mātanga ako a Kahu Stirling. Hei tā Koko, e “tino arohanuitia ana” a Stirling. E kōrero ana te pūrehuroa mō ngā ahoroa whetū o Te Mangōroa. Ko te kunenga e kōrero ana mō te ōrokahanga mai o ngā mea katoa. Kāpuia ana mai, ka puta ko “te aho mutunga kore, e kōrero ana mō tēnei mea te ako he mea mutunga kore, kia noho here kore mō ngā rā katoa o tōu ao”.
Ka kīa a William Massey, e Koko he tangata tōrōkiri ia. “He rerekētanga nui i waenga i te whakamaumahara me te whakamānawa nui nei tētahi, ā, kua tae te wā kia āta rapu tātou nā wai te whare wānanga i tapa me te mōhio he aha tā rātou e ngana nei ki te whakatairanga”.
I tīmata te tohe mō te panonitanga o te ingoa i te tau 2016 i te pueatanga mai o ētahi o ngā kupu a William Massey. Ēngari, kāre anō te whare wānanga kia whakarite hui ōkawa mō te panoni i te ingoa nā tō rātou pukumahi. E ai ki a Koko, e kore e mutu tēnei tohe kia panoni i te ingoa, ka kawea tonutia e ngā tāngata ahakoa te aha. “Tērā pea he take pāpaku tēnei ki a koe, ēngari e āhei ana te tangata te panoni i te take iti me te take nui i te wā ōrite”.
Ahakoa te tokomaha o ngā āwangawanga ā ngā tāngata kei rangirua rātou, e whakapono ana a Koko ka tino whai hua. “Ēhara i te mea koinei te wā tuatahi kua pēnei tētahi i te ao, kua panoni ētahi whenua me ētahi whare ako i ō rātou ingoa”.
Nā te Tumuaki Tuarua, nā Te Ahorangi Jan Thomas i whakamōhio mai kua aukatingia te kaikiri ahakoa te momo, ā, kua huri rawa te ao mai te wā i a William Massey me āna kupu kaikiri i ngā 1900. “E kore te whare wānanga e whakaae ki te whakaaro ka whakatinanahia e te whare wānanga ngā āhuatanga kaikiri o te tangata nōna te ingoa rā, heoi, ka whakatinanahia kētia ko ngā rerekētanga me te kotahitanga o te hapori, ngā kaimahi, ngā ākonga me ngā ākonga tawhito”.
“Pērā i ērā atu tau, e aro pū ana te whare wānanga ki te hōtaka o te tau, ā, kāre ano he matapaki ōkawa kia whai wāhi mō te panoni i te ingoa”. I whakamārama hoki ia i te kaha whakamahi o te whare wānanga i tōna ingoa o Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, mai te wā tapaina te ingoa rā.
Massey name change dismissed despite racist namesake
While New Zealand debates changing its official name to Aotearoa, a Massey name change is not on the cards.
Te Pāti Māori petition to change New Zealand's official name to Aotearoa has received over 70,000 signatures, but should the University change Massey’s official name to its Māori name, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa? Students feel Massey’s racist namesake is inappropriate, while the University believes we are not defined by him.
Rosie Koko, speaking on behalf of the Manawatū Māori Assocation Manawatahi, questioned Massey’s namesake. “Is that what we want our university to be about?” She believed that both the country and university should go by their Māori names. “Just because it has been this way doesn’t mean it has to stay this way.”
Former Prime Minister William Massey made racists comments during his career, including “I am not a lover or admirer of the Chinese race, and I am glad to know that the number of Chinese in this country is not increasing.” The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act was passed during his term in 1920, aiming to limit Asian immigrants. That year he said, “Clearly, we want to keep the race as pure in this Dominion as it is possible to keep it.”
Koko said Massey’s Māori name is “beautiful and creative and it has a deep meaning to the kaupapa of Massey”. The name Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, was gifted to the University by academic Kahu Stirling in 1997. Koko said Stirling is “very very deeply respected and loved”. Te Pūrehuroa references the endless line of stars in the Milky Way. Te Kunenga is a term that references the notion of inception. Together, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, suggests "from inception to infinity". Koko said, “It references that learning is about freedom, it shouldn’t be constraint and it never ends. It’s a life long journey.”
William Massey was “one flawed individual”, Koko said. “There's a difference between memorialising someone and aggrandising them and I feel like we have to look at who named the University that and why they did that and what perspective they were trying to promote.”
The debate for a name change started in 2016 when William Massey’s comments resurfaced. However, the University has not formally discussed changing the name as they are too busy. Koko said people will keep pushing for a name change no matter what. “This might seem like a shallow surface issue but you can deal with that kind of thing as well as changing deep stuff. You can do both things.”
While many people worry changing a name creates confusion, Koko felt it was worth it. “It's not like this has never happened in the world before, countries have changed their names, institutions have changed their names.”
Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas, said the University does not condone racism of any kind and fortunately things have moved on significantly since William Massey’s comments in the early 1900s. “The University is not defined by its namesake, but rather the diverse and inclusive community of staff, students and alumni.”
“As with other years, the University has a busy programme of work that it is focusing on, and there have been no formal discussions around changing the name.” She explained that the University is already called Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, and has been using this name routinely since it was gifted.
