A major New Zealand retailer is back peddling on using Māori names for some of its products after deeming them culturally insensitive.
Mitre 10’s Legacy brand has covered over existing stock with stickers to hide products emblazoned with a Māori word for the products which include toilet seats and toilet paper holders along with other bathroom fixtures.
The move is temporary until existing stock is exhausted and replacements, sourced from China, will be produced with names deemed more apt.
It is understood the products have been on sale for the past five years with the Māori names, but corporate policy now dictates the names be changed to reflect cultural sensitivity.
A spokesperson for Mitre 10 said the changes were made as the Māori names for lakes and rivers were tarnished by being associated with toilets.
In Maori culture, water is considered the foundation of life, known as te taha wairua.
“We are in the process of changing the names because of the cultural sensitivity of using te reo Māori lake and river names on some of our bathroom ranges,” the spokesperson said.
“We identified mid-last year that these longstanding product names needed to be changed out of respect for te reo and te ao Māori.”
Karaitiana Taiuru, an expert in Māori cultural rights, agreed the names were inappropriate.
When speaking with Radio New Zealand about the decision to cover the offensive names he agreed with Mitre 10’s actions.
“Rivers are normally named after ancestors, they have spiritual connections to both the physical environment and the people ... many Māori believe that their rivers have a mauri or a life essence inside them,” he said.
“Calling something like a toilet roll holder by a sacred name, such as kaiiwi, is disgusting and offensive.”
Mr. Taiuru said he was surprised the situation was not identified and rectified earlier over the past five years:
“I’m a little bit surprised that someone like Mitre 10 didn’t do cultural audits beforehand. As a consumer, I see them using a lot of te reo Māori names and, until this interview, I thought they were quite a culturally safe organisation.”
“I would have thought they would have spent a little bit of money as part of their marketing and branding budget just to double-check that these names were okay.”
The existing names have now been replaced with stickers bearing European or generic names.
The Te Anau towel ring was rebranded as “Ellesmere Towel ring” in reference to New Zealand’s fourth-largest lake, located in the South Island. The Kaiiwi toilet roll holder was changed to bear the Legacy brand name.
Mr. Taiuru told RNZ, that with the story going public, Mitre 10 may lose some customers from the Māori community.
“From experience, it takes a brave person to speak out against a corporate brand, because when you do speak out, you are often subjected to personal abuse. A lot of Māori would see that and just say ‘Oh, well I’m not shopping here again.’”
