The New Zealand fuel company Z Energy is swapping out street names for “correct” kupu on service stops around the country, with the help of local hapū.

When Z took over 226 fuel sites from Shell in 2010, the easy solution was to name the respective stations after the streets they were on, or near.

But when it named the Kahikatea Drive station in Kirikiriroa Z — K Drive, the company’s Māori advisor questioned the abbreviation.

“Kahikatea is the correct name. That led to a bigger conversation about where are we with our knowledge as we start to learn a bit more about te reo Māori and acknowledging interconnected-ness of all things, like, where else are there opportunities to do it,” Z Energy customer general manager Andy Baird said.

After 12 months of whakawhanaungatanga (relationship building), the company was guided by Te Hā o te Whenua o Kirikiriroa on changing the name of Z Dinsdale to Z Tuhikaramea.

That led to two other stations being renamed — New Plymouth’s Z Courtenay Street became Z Huatoki, while Hamilton’s Five Cross Roads station became Z Te Papanui.

“This is not about ticking a box per se, this is about a bigger sort of commitment that we have to te reo Māori and obviously to the communities that we operate in, so it’s a much bigger broader long-term programme,” Baird said.

Internal te reo drive
There had also been an internal drive to incorporate more use of te reo, kicking off each day with karakia, Baird said.

It added more of a connection between the company and Māori traditions.

“We’ve been adding bilingual language inside the sites but we have equally taken the time to make sure that we’re getting the right dialects as the regions as we go through it.

“Part of the project this year was to sort of understand the process that we go through in terms of engagement with mana whenua and how they want things to happen and occur, and how we can come together to make that really a great outcome for local communities we operate in.”

The company could have changed the station names off the bat, but Baird said consulting with local hapū and iwi was the right thing to do.

“The opportunity to meet them, to start to engage with mana whenua and to build a relationship with them and to do something that they’re just as proud of as we are, was just as important as the actual name.”

Each site’s name was gifted by the hapū, with careful consideration of the history of the whenua.

Facebook community included
Ngāti Te Whiti hapū in Ngāmotu was thrilled to play a big part in renaming the Courtenay Street petrol station and included its Facebook community in making the decision.

It had a kete of three names that went to a vote — the name Huatoki was favoured.

Julie Healey of Ngāti Te Whiti said it was only fitting to have the name Huatoki, as the awa flowed just around the corner from the petrol station.

“Huatoki is probably all the life essence of New Plymouth at the beginning. We have the pā Puke Ariki at the front and then we have the other pā around, I think there’s about five or six different pā in that area.”

The hapū was in its rebuilding phase and was working towards a Huatoki restoration plan with the New Plymouth District Council, so when Z approached it at the start of the year, the timing could not have been better, she said.

“When we were approached, I just thought straight away ‘this is going to work brilliantly with our Huātoki’, and I was hoping whānau would vote that way, and they did. It just made sense, it was consistent.”

She praised Z for taking the right steps to engage with locals.

“One of our whānau, Damon Ritai, met the people outside Puke Ariki Museum, talked to them about the museum, the designs, the cultural expression on the museum, the meaning of the different things of whakapapa on the ceremonial doors, all the names that were in the foyer, and explained everything about those.”

Cultural induction hīkoi
The cultural induction hīkoi ended at Te Whare Honanga (Taranaki Cathedral) where they had refreshments.

Then, the hapū worked on the dialect, something Healey triple-checked before giving the nod of approval.

“This is about reclaiming our language and culture, not as a political act, but as a celebration.

“It’s always a good opportunity for hapū to try and get those names, you know, renaming before the colonial names, taking things back to language and culture.”

Z Energy aimed to rename more petrol stations but first, more whakawhanaungatanga, Baird said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s Māori Party co-leader says the opposition National Party should go back to school if it thinks including te reo Māori on road signs is confusing.

In a transport meeting yesterday in Bay of Plenty, National’s spokesperson Simeon Brown said introducing the language to road signs would make them “more confusing” and they “should all be English”.

On Monday, Waka Kotahi said its He Tohu Huarahi Māori Bilingual Traffic Signs programme was going out for public consultation.

If successful, the programme would include te reo Māori in motorway and expressway signs, destination signs, public and active transport signs, walking and cycling signs, general advisory and warning signs.

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said having the language included on road signs will help those in the process of learning te reo.

“This is an environment where there’s more non-Māori learning reo than we ever had in the history of Aotearoa. It’s important that we embrace our nation hood, including our indigenous people and our language.”

“We spent a long time trying to make sure we don’t lose our language, so having our culture in our roads is not just about helping those who are fluent Māori speakers, but so those who are in our education system learning reo can see it reflected around our environment.”

‘Make an effort’
She said Brown should go back to school if he thought te reo Māori on road signs was confusing.

“It’s never too hard to understand the official languages of Aotearoa. Whether it will be making an effort to understand te reo or sign language, for example.

“These are all a critical part of our nation and if he [Simeon Brown] needs to go back to school or take some time off Parliament to be able to understand our language so be it.”

There had been Māori traffic signs, Māori names, in this nation for a very long time, Ngarewa-Packer said.

“I’m not so sure why he [Simeon Brown] is so confused now.”

The Te Pāti Māori co-leader said Brown’s comments were separatist.

“I think it’s a real ignorant alarmist way to be politicking.”

“Twenty percent of our population is Māori. If we see a large [political] party basically trying to ignore 20 percent of this population, then can we expect them to do that to the rest of our multiculture, diversity and languages that we see coming forward in Aotearoa?”

She said most New Zealanders would enjoy seeing multilingual road signs.

“I think we are a mature and sophisticated country and generally, most of us, actually really enjoy not only seeing our indigenous language but also other languages.

“[Not having bilingual signs] It’s an attempt to take us backwards that I don’t think many are going to tolerate.”

‘They should be filling pot holes’ – National
National’s transport spokesman Simeon Brown said Waka Kotahi should be filling pot holes instead of looking into including te reo Māori in road signage around the country.

“NZTA should be focusing primarally in fixing the pot holes on our roads and they shouldn’t be distracted by changing signage up and down our country.”

“Most New Zealanders want to see our roads fixed, it’s their number one priority.”

Brown said the National Party was open to bilingual information, but only when it came to place names signage.

“When it comes to critically important safety information the signage needs to be clear and understandable for people in our road, most of whom who speak English.”

“It’s important to keep the balance right between place names, which we are very open for bilingual signage, and critical safety signs where is really important people understand what the sign is saying,” he said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Concerns are being raised about the future survival of the iTaukei (Fijian) language as a threat of extinction looms despite its everyday use among its people.

A language and culture scholar in Fiji, Dr Paul Geraghty, said a growing generational gap within the iTaukei language had been detected and caused concern.

Dr Geraghty said the extent of knowledge of iTaukei vocabulary and its diversity through the different dialects had reduced significantly over the years.

“Young people of today, especially in urban areas, do not speak as well as their parents or grandparents. They don’t have the same vocabulary knowledge, so that is something to be concerned about,” he said.

“People are losing their distinctiveness. The language is becoming what I would call standard Fijian or Fijian of the urban centres.”

Dr Geraghty added that the loss of richness within the iTaukei language was rooted in Fiji’s long colonial history.

“The peculiar colonial history that we have is to a large extent to blame not only for the loss of indigenous languages in Fiji or the reduction of the knowledge of Fijian language but also perceptions are an essential thing.”

New Zealand’s influence on Fijian education
Dr Geraghty explained that until 1930 all education was in the vernacular, either iTaukei, Hindi (Fiji’s second largest spoken language) or Rotuman, until it was no longer sustainable and colonial law makers began to look to the region for assistance.

“The New Zealand government began teaching in Fiji, and its education system was not inclusive towards teaching Māori, which is not the case today. But that culture was brought across to Fiji and children were punished for speaking in their native languages.”

The lasting impacts of this event were still actively practised in Fiji, added Dr Geraghty.

“We look up to English as a superior language and make jokes about people who don’t speak English well. That is not funny — English people don’t make jokes about people who can’t speak French. The most important thing in a child’s education is learning to speak their language well.”

Dr Geraghty has advocated the importance of incorporating native language into the education system as a scholar of language.

History has always been a leading guide to the future, and learning not to repeat the past, is what linguists advise.

Importance of sustaining iTaukei language
Dr Geraghty said that multilingualism was vital for a child’s education as it stimulated the mind and opened many other possibilities.

“Bilingualism and multilingualism — speaking two or more languages should be encouraged as it will increase the beauty of diversity in the world and our knowledge of this world and our position in it.”

A call for the Fijian Ministry of Education to act now and implement the compulsory learning of iTaukei and Hindi in schools was paramount.

Dr Geraghty added while the Fijian government and universities had started incorporating vernacular into the curriculum, more needed to be done.

Fijian Language Week celebration

The Fijian community has launched a week-long celebration of the Fijian language, traditions and culture with events across Aotearoa.

The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio, marked Macawa ni Vosa Vakaviti — Fijian Language Week, welcoming this year’s theme of nurture, preserve and sustain the Fijian language.

Aupito acknowledged the enduring strength and sustainability of Vosa Vakaviti and its importance as the Fijian community navigated its recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.

“Fiji has been hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic and climate change’s ever-increasing impacts,” he said.

“Yet, while it faces a road to recovery, the Fijian people can always rely on their language, traditions and values to sustain them.

“Now more than ever, the Fiji language, culture, and identity is important to uphold both in Aotearoa and Fiji.”

Aupito said the Fijian community in Aotearoa, New Zealand, should be applauded for their tireless efforts in advocating for and strengthening Vosa Vakaviti.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz