Landmarks to be renamed

Three North Canterbury landmarks containing the ‘‘N word’’ will be renamed.

The racially offensive place names have been in use for some 150 years but will be wiped from the map by the end of next week.

N ***** Stream, N ***** head, and N ***** Hill are all at the foothills of the Southern Alps.

A proposal to change the names has been under public consultation for several months. Initially, most submitters wanted to keep the names, but a late flurry of submissions wanted change.

The decision was made as they were clearly offensive and the word had no place in official names, Land Information Minister Louise Upston said. ‘‘These names reflect a time when attitudes towards this word were markedly different to what they are now. It is a word that is clearly offensive to most people today, so I am pleased to make this decision,’’ she said.

She said it was not a matter of rewriting history – the original names would remain a matter of public record – but of recognising that the names were offensive.

‘‘In a society like ours that is multicultural and where most New Zealanders do not go out of their way to be offensive or exclude others, I do not believe this word has a place in our official names.’’

N ***** Stream would be renamed Pu¯ kio Stream, after a variety of grass. N ***** head would be renamed Tawhai Hill, after a native beech tree, and N ***** Hill would be renamed Ka¯ nuka Hills, also after a native tree.

Anyone can propose a name change from the New Zealand Geographic Board.

The complainant had requested the names’ removal early last year.

The new names would be listed in the Gazetteer, the official record of New Zealand place names, next Thursday.

Numerous New Zealand place names still invoke racist terms or attitudes.

On the West Coast, three place names contain the word ‘‘Darkie.’’