The uproar over whether Wanganui should be spelled “Whanganui” sees Graeme "Laird McGillicuddy" Cairns in Hamilton wanting to add a letter to his home city and spell it “Whamilton.”  His reasons are ‘sound, logical’ and hilarious but not ethnically based.

Maori didn't have a written language so the sounds were recorded for them initially by a Missionary.　 Many European sounds do not occur in the Maori language -- only 16 of the 26; letters in our alphabet matched.

Differing dialects by separate tribes caused some difficulties initially. To further complicate matters, a decision by Maori　 Elders to ensure ‘their people’ were able to fully understand the English language, Maori spoken at home, was banned in schools with physical punishment freely used to ensure this was the case.

Non-Maori pupils grew up with little or no understanding of the Maori language. When in the fifties there was an exodus from the rural areas into the cities for industry, the majority of the population were soon monolingual.

When the Maori language was seen to be facing extinction a movement aimed at recovering the language began under the banner, “E Tu” (Stand up, be proud.)　 By the eighties the need was recognised; but in the case of one Auckland High School, a whole section of the school was created for Maori teenagers.　 A Maori woman without any formal education became the senior teacher -- the only fluent speaker available.

The name change called for in Wanganui makes no sense to me. While most Maori pronounce the "Wh" sound is closest to "f", the inclusion of an 'h" would be correct ethnic pronunciation -- but Waikato Maori say "w" -- so it is already correct. Without the “h‘.

Calls for change without logical and accurate reasoning makes me cringe for my Maori ancestors. I agree with Mayor Michael Laws -- from my viewpoint this is, put crudely, "whuking" nonsense.