A Gisborne primary school is campaigning for Poverty Bay to be called Turanganui a Kiwa.
Kaiti School is pressing for a name change after students discovered their region used to be known as Turanganui a Kiwa - until the British explorer Captain James Cook came ashore.
Principal Billie-Jean Potaka Ayton said the children could not believe the Maori place name was done away with.
She said the students are shocked that somebody could rename an area that already had a name.
Ms Potaka Ayton said Turanganui a Kiwa is the standing place of Kiwa - a tribal chief.
She said the campaign for renaming includes a petition, a land march, and a meeting with Gisborne District Council.