RAEL’S COMMENT:
Very good and important decision! All countries which suffered colonization should change all the names coming from colonizers. As the great Mao Zedong said, real decolonization must start with a cultural revolution.
The Cook Islands in the South Pacific are considering dropping their colonial-era name and adopting something more reflective of their Polynesian culture.
A name-changing committee was formed there earlier this year, initially with the intention of adding an indigenous name to the existing nomenclature. However, its chairman has now revealed that the group is in favor of ditching the island nation’s nod to British explorer Captain James Cook altogether.
A British protectorate from 1888 to 1900, the islands were dubbed the Cook Islands in honor of the 18th century explorer who came ashore there in the 1770s. Cook has a complicated reputation, ranging from heroic navigator to disastrous coloniser.
