Samantha Motion: Changes to school names are remaking history

Rotorua Girls' High School head girl Helena Dou'ble (left) and deputy head girl Hope Waaka-Smith are pleased with the school's new house names. Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION

I went to a girls' school in New Zealand where all the school houses were named after a bunch of British blokes.

Now, these were extraordinary chaps: Antarctic explorers.

Pioneers who ventured boldly - perhaps foolhardily - into a great and dangerous unknown.

Their bravery and determination and the feats they achieved could be inspiring to anyone, regardless of gender, I'm not denying that.

They have spirit, yes they do.

That said, even back when I was just discovering the concept of girl power, I thought they were rather unrelatable choices for generations of young ladies.

Were there no laudable women available for the honour? At least some New Zealanders, in a pinch?

A couple of new school houses have been added since I left. They were also named after male explorers but at least they were Kiwi explorer blokes this time.

I understand there was a tradition at play, but this is one I wouldn't mind seeing my beloved alma mater shake up some time soon.

And if it does decide to take that step, it will have plenty of good examples to draw from.

Take, Te Kura o Te Rautāwhiri, which was the new name adopted by Rotorua Girls' High School this week.

The name Rautāwhiri relates to the land the school now sits on, gifted by Ngāti Whakaue in 1959 when Rotorua High School split into Rotorua Boys' and Rotorua Girls'.

At the same time as the school replaced something old with something new, it also subbed something old back into play.

The school has returned to its original house names: Rangiuru, Hinemoa, Rukuwai and Karenga - named for wāhine toa of Ngāti Whakaue.

They were used until 2015 when school numbers meant a reduction to three houses, named Taini, Makereti and Witarina - but now they're back.

Then there is Tauranga Girls' College, which last year redubbed two houses that had male monikers harking back to the pre-1958 co-educational Tauranga College era.

The new names given to those houses, plus a new house, were Whina, Sheppard and Te Auetu, after land march leader Dame Whina Cooper, suffrage leader Kate Sheppard, and Auetu Harata Hall, who was famed for the compassion she showed in the Battle of Gate Pā.

Sometimes, these sorts of changes are met with grumbles and resistance.

People may feel a history they felt part of is being erased.

The idea of history being erased in the age of Wikipedia and an internet that never, ever forgets is bizarre to me, and I think there is a wide gulf between removing something from prominence and pretending it was never there.

Every tradition starts with a first time and history has to be made.

That means it can also be remade, and it's great to see schools leading the way.