Iwi want the "Whanganui" spelling included as the only correct one in land settlement legislation for the lower river.
Iwi want the "Whanganui" spelling included as the only correct one in land settlement legislation for the lower river.
It's been 10 years since the New Zealand Geographic Board accepted a proposal to include "H" in the spelling of Whanganui.
The proposal was put forward by Te Rūnanga o Tupoho in early 2009 and was accepted by the board in September that year.
At the time, publicsubmissions on the proposal showed 444 submitters were opposed to the change while 436 people supported it.
In December 2009, then Minister for Land Information Maurice Williamson announced both Whanganui and Wanganui would be made official names, and that government departments would start using Whanganui in future.
It was important to change to the Whanganui spelling because that way the name means something, Whanganui kaumātua John Maihi told the Chronicle this week.
When he sees people still using it he feels sorry for them, because they think their history is the only history.
"But they are not going to take away that privilege from us at the same time," Maihi said.
"If they want to take us on, we will take them on head-on."
There has been a slow but sure change in the community since 2009, with Māori not so "looked down upon", he said.
"The feeling right around the community is much better than it was 20 years ago.
"I think we are heading in the right direction and we have got to do this together. We can't go into the future without the other."
Mayor Hamish McDouall said he supports having an "H" in Whanganui, and that he voted for the change in 2014 when he was a councillor.
Mayor Hamish McDouall. Photo / File
The name change was before council twice in December 2014, with the first vote to change failing 7-6 before it was won 10-3 in another vote later that month.
"I remember people thought the world would fall down when we agreed to submit to the Geographic Board, but the world hasn't fallen down and we are carrying on," McDouall said.
"It's cool to have the 'H' there and have places like Whanganui Collegiate and others add it in."
McDouall said it's up to individual businesses if they wish to change their name.
"If you've run a business without the 'H' for 40 years, then you're not going to change your letterhead, stationery and website addresses immediately or at all because that costs.
"When you're representing Whanganui like the rugby union I'd definitely be considering changing to the 'H', and I've written a letter in support of changing the rugby union's name to include the 'H'."
McDouall said it was important to embrace names used by different cultures.
"We've got a lot of European names and some Māori names and I think it's good to know the history behind both."
In November 2015 Land Information New Zealand announced the spelling for the district would be changed to Whanganui District to reflect the views of the council itself, along with local iwi and submitters.
The change has happened since Whanganui iwi took their river claim to Te Papa Tongarewa back in the early 2000s. Now a new generation is coming through, at a higher level educationally and more aware of politics, Maihi said.
"They're on to it."
Maihi said it was up to people like himself to keep those new young leaders grounded in their tribe "otherwise we win one thing and destroy the other".
"We have to try to make sure we don't hinder and block the young people, but they have also got to have a little listening ear."
Getting the "Whanganui" spelling included as the only correct one in land settlement legislation for the lower river is important too.
"So that's recorded as a fact, as it should have been right at the beginning," Maihi said.
In September last year, during Māori Language Week, the Whanganui Chronicle permanently incorporated the "H" into its name.
