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I have come here to rail against (pun intended) the use of the name Takahē for a piece of software. The author is well-intentioned and there is some aptness to

I have come here to rail against (pun intended) the use of the name Takahē for a piece of software. The author is well-intentioned and there is some aptness to the name, but many people here in Aotearoa / New Zealand, are sensitive to the use of the names of our tāonga / treasures for businesses, technologies and other objects. Specifically, the takahē is an indigenous species tāonga as described in https://www.taiuru.maori.nz/branding/ https://www.taiuru.maori.nz/branding/. As such it would be best to consult with the Ngāi Tahu people before using the takahē’s name in this manner. In this link from NZ’s Department of Conservation (https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2021-media-releases/fulton-hogan-continues-support-for-takahe/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2021-media-relea...), you can see that NZers take this sort of iwi partnership seriously. More broadly, I find it sad when the the names of natural species and features are adopted in the business and technology world without any deep connection. A canonical case would be Amazon the company, which has prospered and become a household name while the Amazon itself, with its people and ecosystems has suffered and declined. An egregious case relevant to NZ is Kiwi Farms. The trend of using species names in technology perhaps started with the O’Reilly books. The argument can be raised that such use raises awareness of endangered species such as the takahē. But perhaps that is best left to other means, for fear that the mauri of a species should be captured and harmed.

gearsandbeers 4y ago
I'm tangata whenua and quite frankly this is ridiculous - Ngāi Tahu doesn't speak for all Māori. I'm perfectly fine with it.
- railsagainst 4y ago
  Just to be clear, its actually the bird itself I care about. I think its identity is something that deserves respect and shouldn't just be randomly adopted by someone who thinks it is cool. I am glad that some Māori people are asserting a degree of hegemony over the use of NZ names and identities and I appreciate their intent. If you think this is ridiculous, just try and call your technology product Walmart, Amazon, The Warehouse or even the All Blacks and see what happens.
  - berjin 4y ago
    Good thing birds aren't running competing businesses in the same industry then.
the-printer 4y ago
I think that it’s worth a shot opening an issue on their GitHub page. Also see this: https://fedi.aeracode.org/@andrew/109400227857910033 https://fedi.aeracode.org/@andrew/109400227857910033
berjin 4y ago
As with most things it's not that black and white. Ngāi Tahu are actually the biggest polluters of the water supply where I live as they cut down acres of forest to create massive dairy farms. The creator of this software picked a really great name since it actually promotes NZ conservation. I've donated my time and money to plant native species in NZ and I find your position ridiculous. Does everyone need to run their language past some woke authority now to make sure it doesn't offend some guys on the internet? If you want to help out with conservation why don't you spend your time volunteering for one of the many tree planting charities?
- baconhigh 4y ago
  The intentions of the creator of the product do seem genuine and worthy, but it's still cultural appropriation without consultation or acknowledgement of the tāonga behind the name. Just because you disagree doesn't make it "woke".
  - berjin 4y ago
    > cultural appropriation Is a woke term. By the way they mention how you can donate to a Takahe recovery programme here https://jointakahe.org/about/ https://jointakahe.org/about/
    - lostlogin 4y ago
      I think we can aim for criticism that’s a little higher brow. Whataboutism and dismissal of a position because it’s ‘woke’ is pretty unhelpful.
      - account42 4y ago
        People have every right not to buy into racist concepts like cultural appropriation and reject them without further arguments.
- railsagainst 4y ago
  What makes you think I don't, mate?

gearsandbeers 4y ago

I'm tangata whenua and quite frankly this is ridiculous - Ngāi Tahu doesn't speak for all Māori. I'm perfectly fine with it.

railsagainst 4y ago
Just to be clear, its actually the bird itself I care about. I think its identity is something that deserves respect and shouldn't just be randomly adopted by someone who thinks it is cool. I am glad that some Māori people are asserting a degree of hegemony over the use of NZ names and identities and I appreciate their intent. If you think this is ridiculous, just try and call your technology product Walmart, Amazon, The Warehouse or even the All Blacks and see what happens.
- berjin 4y ago
  Good thing birds aren't running competing businesses in the same industry then.

the-printer 4y ago

I think that it’s worth a shot opening an issue on their GitHub page. Also see this: https://fedi.aeracode.org/@andrew/109400227857910033 https://fedi.aeracode.org/@andrew/109400227857910033

berjin 4y ago

As with most things it's not that black and white. Ngāi Tahu are actually the biggest polluters of the water supply where I live as they cut down acres of forest to create massive dairy farms. The creator of this software picked a really great name since it actually promotes NZ conservation. I've donated my time and money to plant native species in NZ and I find your position ridiculous. Does everyone need to run their language past some woke authority now to make sure it doesn't offend some guys on the internet? If you want to help out with conservation why don't you spend your time volunteering for one of the many tree planting charities?

baconhigh 4y ago
The intentions of the creator of the product do seem genuine and worthy, but it's still cultural appropriation without consultation or acknowledgement of the tāonga behind the name. Just because you disagree doesn't make it "woke".
- berjin 4y ago
  > cultural appropriation Is a woke term. By the way they mention how you can donate to a Takahe recovery programme here https://jointakahe.org/about/ https://jointakahe.org/about/
  - lostlogin 4y ago
    I think we can aim for criticism that’s a little higher brow. Whataboutism and dismissal of a position because it’s ‘woke’ is pretty unhelpful.
    - account42 4y ago
      People have every right not to buy into racist concepts like cultural appropriation and reject them without further arguments.
railsagainst 4y ago
What makes you think I don't, mate?