A furious mum has hit out at her daughter's nursery after staff there shortened her name because it's "too hard to pronounce".
Five-year-old Mahinarangi Tautu has just started to attend the day centre in New Zealand when her Maori mum Paris found out staff had begun calling her "Rangi".
She was horrified to hear that they found Mahinarangi's Maori name, which means "moon in the sky", too hard to pronounce, while Paris said cruel children laughed at her daughter's traditional name.
The bullying has left the youngster so distraught she no longer tries to correct people when they say her name wrong, reports the Mirror.
Paris explains her daughter's name, from the Ngāti Raukawa heritage, has been passed down through several generations and has a deep line of descent, known as whakapapa.
In a community Facebook post, Paris said: "Can you imagine your child being too embarrassed to say their name because people won't make a decent effort to pronounce it properly?"
"I am sad that in 2021, in Aotearoa, a 5-year-old girl has lost the pride that comes with her beautiful name.
"It made me so angry, especially because they'd use Maori resources in her classes."
Paris told New Zealand Herald that her ancestors endured a similar experience which has made her even more determined to make sure her daughter's name is pronounced correctly and not changed.
She said: "My ancestors changed their original name from Perepe-Perana to Phillips because of colonisation.
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"I will not let something similar happen with my daughter."
"It made me so angry, especially because they'd use Maori resources in her classes."
Paris told New Zealand Herald was determined to make sure her daughter's name is not changed.
She said: "My ancestors changed their original name from Perepe-Perana to Phillips because of colonisation.
"I will not let something similar happen with my daughter."
