Aro-Mind

It’s fantastic to see Air New Zealand embracing Te Reo Māori - using it and making it available for customers in various ways. Long may this continue. Our national airline is not just a purveyor of goods and services, a mover of people and freight. It is also a ‘carrier’ of our national identity, culture and personality. Because of its high visibility and impact, Air NZ receives a daily opportunity to shape and contribute to NZ life far beyond their core work of flying aeroplanes. By including Te Reo Māori in aspects of Air NZ’s business it tells us that the airline understands its role in helping to shape national identity and is open to the contribution of the Māori world to that national identity. Chief Digital Officer, Jennifer Sepull, makes this point in the Oct 2019 edition of ‘Kia Ora’ magazine (p. 176) where she says ‘As New Zealand’s national airline we recognise Māori culture is an especially important part of the nation’s identity and we try to bring that to life throug...

Since convening a number of whare tapere upon my kāinga in Hauraki (Waimangō, 2010-14), I have been approached numerous times regarding the use of aspects of the whare tapere - including the name and associated terms - in a variety of performing arts and theatre settings. For example, Te Pou Theatre in Henderson recently discussed the use of the term in some of its programming material. In 2018, the New Zealand Festival discussed using the term prior to the 2018 Festival and ‘whare tapere’ also appears in the new strategy for Māori Arts created by Creative New Zealand. This is a small number of examples that demonstrate an increasing interest in the whare tapere. This blogpost was written in response to these various approaches and sets out my thoughts regarding the use of the term ‘whare tapere’ in iwi and non-iwi settings. The paper discusses my views regarding how the term ought to be used today and in doing so, it includes a discussion regarding the future of th...