The owner of Dunedin music venue The Cook is "happy" to change the establishment's name, saying it doesn't represent what his business is all about.
Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the world have forced many to rethink how historical figures are represented. People have called for statues and monuments of those accused of being oppressors and linked to racist actions to come down.
Monuments and names related to navigator Captain James Cook have been pulled into the debate due to his colonialist roots and encounters with Māori when he came to New Zealand.
Now the owner of The Cook music venue, found in the Captain Cook Hotel in Dunedin, has decided to change its name.
The venue's Facebook account has posted extensively about the decision.
"There's an issue with the name of this venue. I hear you, and I'm working on it. I never wanted to align my business with white colonialism, and I wasn't aware that I might cause offence. I didn't think much about it when I took over the place, I was simply focused on running a music venue," it said last week.
Owner Mike McLeod appeared on The AM Show on Tuesday morning to explain further. He said he wasn't bullied into the decision by people demanding a change, but felt the name didn't reflect what his business was about.
"After some thinking about it, I thought James Cook doesn't really represent my music venue at all, regardless of what you think of him as a historical figure of New Zealand," he said.
"I was quite comfortable in my decision to maybe put a name on my own business that I felt represented what we do better."
The change in name was also in line with other businesses located in the hotel which have their own identity.
"Lots has changed really with the Captain Cook hotel and it's probably not really much like lots of people might remember. The ground floor, downstairs, is now a sorta Sal's Pizza. It's got a big corporate Sal's sign outside. There is a burger bar in the downstair's corner as well which has its own branding and identity. The back half of it is now a car park. I am just trying to put my own brand on my own business in the building."
McLeod said the decision would also hopefully put the issue to bed.
"I could do this now, and I think there is a few people that are going to be upset, and there are a few people who are upset I changed the name. I guess they are going to get over that pretty quickly. It is not a public monument, I am not making any kind of decision like that. It's just the name of my business.
"I have had a lot of people kinda give me flak for changing it. That will be the end of the question. It is not going to be ongoing. I suppose if I had kept the name as it was, then it was probably a question that would have come up time and time again."
It's reported McLeod wants to consult with iwi before choosing a new name.
