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Pacific

Cook Islands forms committee to shed colonial title, rename after Polynesian roots

By Anna Hopkins Fox News
Published
The Cook Islands have formed a committee to change their name from to reflect its Polynesian heritage 

The Cook Islands have formed a committee to change their name from to reflect its Polynesian heritage  (Marty Melville/AFP/GettyImages)

A small Pacific Island nation is considering ditching its Colonial name in favor of one that highlights their Polynesian roots.

The Cook Islands, comprised of 15 islands located about 2,000 miles from New Zealand, were named after British explorer James Cook. They became independent in 1965, but the nation of 12,000 is still managed by New Zealand in their defense and foreign affairs. Now, as they develop an increasingly independent national identity, they want to change their name to one that reflects that.

A government committee was set up in January, and intends to replace the Cook Islands name entirely with a new moniker, preferably in the islands' native language of Maori.

The committee is made up of local historians and individuals with "deep traditional knowledge" of the country, according to its chairman Danny Mataroa. At first, the possibility of creating a hybrid name, such as their neighbor's, Aotearoa-New Zealand, was considered. But eventually, the group decided to scrap the Cook Islands title altogether, according to Yahoo News.

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The Cook Islands, comprised of 15 islands located about 2,000 miles from New Zealand, were named after British explorer James Cook. They became independent in 1965, but the nation of 12,000 is still managed by New Zealand in their defense and foreign affairs

The Cook Islands, comprised of 15 islands located about 2,000 miles from New Zealand, were named after British explorer James Cook. They became independent in 1965, but the nation of 12,000 is still managed by New Zealand in their defense and foreign affairs (Google View )

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The renaming has also gained support by the nation's Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Brown.

"I'm quite happy to look at a traditional name for our country which more reflects the true Polynesian nature of our island nation," he told local radio.

The decision to rename the Cook Islands was brought up once before, in 1994, when it was proposed that the nation be renamed Avaiki Nui. The decision was overwhelmingly defeated.

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The renewed process, however, will be lengthy - so residents shouldn't be expecting a name change anytime soon.