Naming Rights Conflict, Coexistence, and Restoration in the Memorial Landscape of New Zealand's Capital City

This paper explores the rich and dynamic history of a physically modest hill called Pukeahu Mount Cook, located on the southern outer edges of the central business district in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. The hill was named "Pukeahu" by Maori who originally settled in the area and renamed "Mount Cook" by British colonists soon after their arrival in the nineteenth century. The story of Pukeahu Mount Cook is one of Maori habitation, tribal tensions and migrations, of conflict between Maori and Pakeha and the assertion of British colonial rule, and of the official narrative of New Zealand's national identity forged through overseas wars and reinforced by associated remembrance practices. The hill's two names, the ascendency of one over the other, and finally their "peaceful coexistence" are a reflection of changing cultural dynamics, a recognition of the nation's founding bicultural principles and a process of restoration.