Kiwi (nickname)
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"Kiwi" (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a common self-reference used by New Zealanders, though it is also used internationally.<ref name="DOC1"/> The label is generally viewed as a symbol of pride and affection for most people of New Zealand,<ref name="Phillips2">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> however there are New Zealanders, particularly some with Māori heritage, that find the appellation jarring and prefer not to identify with it.
The name derives from the kiwi, a native flightless bird, which is a national symbol of New Zealand. Until the First World War, the kiwi represented the country and not the people; however, by 1917, New Zealanders were also being called "Kiwis", supplanting other nicknames such as "Enzedder".<ref name="Phillips"/>
History
The kiwi has long had a special significance for the indigenous Māori people, who used its skin and feathers to make feather cloaks (Template:Lang) for chiefs.<ref name="Phillips">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The bird first came to European attention in 1811 when a skin ended up in the hands of a British Museum zoologist, George Shaw, who classified it as a type of penguin and portrayed it as standing upright.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> After early sightings by Europeans the kiwi was regarded as a curiosity; in 1835 the missionary William Yate described it as "the most remarkable and curious bird in New Zealand".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Representing the country
In the early 1900s, cartoonists began to use the kiwi as a representation of New Zealand. For example, in a 1904 New Zealand Free Lance cartoon a plucky kiwi is shown growing to a moa after a rugby victory of 9–3 over a British team.<ref name="kiwi cartoons">Template:Cite web</ref> The next year, The Westminster Gazette printed a cartoon of a kiwi and a kangaroo (representing Australia) going off to a colonial conference.<ref name="kiwi cartoons" /> Trevor Lloyd, who worked for The New Zealand Herald, also used a kiwi to represent the All Blacks rugby team, but he more often drew a moa.<ref name="Phillips" /> Other symbols for New Zealand at this time included the silver fern, a small boy, and a young lion cub.<ref name="kiwi cartoons" /> Until the First World War, the kiwi was used as a symbol of the country rather than the people of New Zealand.<ref name="Phillips" />
Representing the people
In the early-20th century, New Zealanders, especially soldiers and All Blacks players, were referred to internationally as "En Zed(der)s"<ref name="Phillips"/> (derived from the initials of the country's name, N.Z.) or "Maorilanders" (in reference to the Māori people and their historical contribution to the country).<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> These terms were still being used near the end of the First World War of 1914–18. However, although New Zealand soldiers were often described as "Diggers" or as "Pig Islanders",<ref> The Oxford Dictionary of New Zealand English (1997) records the use of "pig-islander" from 1909. </ref> by 1917 they were also being called "Kiwis".<ref name="Phillips" /><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
The image of the kiwi had appeared on military badges since the South Canterbury Battalion used it in 1886,<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> and several regiments took it up in the First World War. "Kiwis" came to mean the men of New Zealand regiments.<ref name="Phillips" /> The nickname is not thought to have originated as a reference to the physical attributes of the New Zealand servicemen (i.e. implying they were short and stocky or nocturnal like the bird). It was simply that the kiwi was distinct and unique to the country.<ref name="Phillips" /> Its prominent use on the New Zealand regiments' insignia also made for easy association.<ref name="origins">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The nickname eventually became common usage in all war theatres.<ref name="Phillips"/>
After the end of the First World War in November 1918, many New Zealand troops stayed in Europe for months or years awaiting transport home. At Sling Camp, near Bulford on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, New Zealand soldiers carved a chalk kiwi into the nearby hill in early 1919.<ref> Kiwi Chalk Figure above Bulford Camp "Members of the Canterbury, Otago and Wellington Battalions under Captain Harry Clark created a chalk figure of a kiwi bird in the nearby hillside in April–June 1919 by removing 12in of top soil and replacing it with chalk pebbles. The kiwi was designed by Sergeant Major Percy Blenkarne, a drawing instructor in the New Zealand Army Education Corps." </ref><ref>Compare: Template:Cite web</ref> The New Zealanders' presence popularised the nickname within Europe.<ref name="Phillips" />
An Australian boot polish called Kiwi was widely used in the imperial forces. William Ramsay, a developer of the product, named the polish in honour of his wife's birthplace, New Zealand.<ref name="Phillips"/> Beginning in 1906, Kiwi Shoe Polish eventually became widely sold in the UK and the US, and the symbol became more widely known.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Australian National Dictionary<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> also gives the first use of the term "Kiwi Kids" and "Kiwis" in 1917, to mean Australian army recruits who had kiwied up; in other words, they had highly polished boots.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Following the Second World War of 1939–1945 the term gradually became attributed to all New Zealanders, and today throughout the world they are referred to as Kiwis, as well as often referring to themselves that way.<ref name="DOC1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="glossary">Template:Cite web</ref>
Current usage
Spelling of the word Kiwi, when used as a nickname for the people, is often capitalised. The bird's name is spelled with a lower-case k and, being a word of Māori origin, normally stays as kiwi when pluralised.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As an English word, the nickname normally takes the plural form Kiwis.<ref name="DOC1"/><ref>For example: Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thus, "two Kiwis" refers to two people, whereas "two kiwi" refers to two birds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This linguistic nicety is exemplified by the conservation trust Save the Kiwi, which used the slogan "Kiwis for kiwi".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, Kiwibank shifted to using the plural form Kiwi (capitalised but without the terminal -s) to refer to the people, most prominently changing its slogan from "Kiwis making Kiwis better off" to "Kiwi making Kiwi better off".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kiwi is not generally considered to be a derogatory term, but there are New Zealanders, particularly some with Māori heritage, who find the appellation jarring and prefer not to identify with it.<ref name="not_Kiwi">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2018, a South Australian employment tribunal ruled that the nickname was not discriminatory, after a New Zealander unsuccessfully argued that she was a victim of racial discrimination after being labelled a "Kiwi".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In an official context, the term kiwi has been used in the name of government services and state-owned enterprises, such as Kiwibank, KiwiSaver, and KiwiRail, and is frequently used in government press releases to refer to everyone in or of New Zealand. In August 2022, Minister of Immigration Michael Wood referred to 85,000 holders of recently approved New Zealand 2021 resident visas as "new Kiwis".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
- Bloke
- Kiwiana, items or icons particular to New Zealand
- Kiwifruit, fruit associated with New Zealand, but not native to it, which is also known as the "Chinese Gooseberry"
- Māori, the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand
- Pākehā, non-Māori (especially European) New Zealanders
- .kiwi, an internet top-level domain
- Yankee
- Canuck
- Aussie