What did the indigenous people call their country, where is the “old” Zealand located, and could the country change its name again?
Answered by Daniel Andrutsos
English language school teacher, native of New Zealand
New Zealand owes its current name to one of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands — Zeeland (the difference between the Netherlands and Holland was explained by “Mandry” here). In the 17th century, Dutch ships under the command of explorer-navigator Abel Tasman reached the South Island, which belongs to present-day New Zealand. The unknown shores were marked by cartographers as Zeeland, meaning “sea land.” To avoid confusion, they added the word nieuw, resulting in Nieuw Zeeland.
For approximately 100 years, the discovered lands interested no one. Until 1769, when British traveler James Cook headed to their shores. Since he thoroughly explored and described the perimeter of the islands, some attribute their discovery to him rather than Abel Tasman. Incidentally, it was Cook who “anglicized” the name into the form known worldwide today — New Zealand.
So the “old” Zealand also exists — in fact, there are even two of them. One is located in the Netherlands, mainly on islands and peninsulas in the mouth of the Scheldt River. The other is an island of the same name that belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark.
But let’s return to New Zealand. The indigenous peoples of the archipelago, the Māori, called the country Aotearoa, which literally means “land of the long white cloud,” “long bright world,” or “land of eternal day.” In some Māori legends, Aotearoa is the name of the canoe that belonged to the first discoverer of these lands; in other variations, he discovered them while being guided by long white clouds.
Currently, the name Aotearoa is gaining increasing popularity among New Zealanders. The Māori language is one of the country’s three official languages, and typically the national anthem is performed first in Māori, so people quite often hear the old name. It must be said that many find it much more unique. Perhaps one day Aotearoa will become the country’s official name, and New Zealand will remain only in history.
