So many of Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty's suburbs, streets and places are named after Māori ancestral figures, iwi are running out of names to gift.
It's a good problem to have, a Māori leader says, but do visitors and locals pronounce these namescorrectly?
Buddy Mikaere. Photo / Andrew Warner
Ngāi Tamarawaho representative Buddy Mikaere said many people got the city's name itself wrong.
"People pronouncing Tauranga as Towel-wronger strikes me as being very common but there are people who are making a real effort to pronounce Māori words correctly which I think is largely driven by our kids.
"And I think all the councillors can now stand up and sing a waiata, that would have been unheard of 10 years ago."
Mikaere said it could be the rolling Rs and vowel sounds that made pronouncing Māori words difficult but those who got it right "automatically open the door to the hapū".
"It is encouraging that we are running out of ancestral names to assign to streets in our area."
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Māori Constituency councillor Matemoana McDonald said it would be a challenge to find any Māori place name in Tauranga that was pronounced correctly by the majority.
"The list goes on and on. I quietly cringe when I hear people pronouncing our place names wrong. It's great people make the effort but those who are teaching them, if the pronunciation isn't there, keep it short and simple."
McDonald said places like Matapihi and Maungatapu were often mispronounced, as were wider Bay of Plenty place names like Katikati and Te Puke.
"There are strategies emerging to revitalise te reo Māori and I have confidence the younger generations will make huge strides in the area but right now, there are a number of people who either can't or choose not to pronounce Māori words correctly."
She believed Te Wiki o te Reo Māori was tokenistic and for te reo Māori to become a norm, the focus needed to be on language revitalisation year-round.
Carlo Ellis. Photo / Andrew Warner
Carlo Ellis, manager of strategic Māori engagement at Tauranga City Council, said it was often simple names like Pāpāmoa and Arataki that got butchered.
"Otūmoetai is one of our longest-standing place names and it gets said all different kinds of ways but we understand it's one of the more complicated names to pronounce. People should be making more of an effort to say names like Pāpāmoa correctly as they are easier to say."
Ellis said it was encouraging to see younger generations coming through who were committed to getting te reo Māori right.
"Our kids are growing up to know better. Whether they're Māori or Pākehā, our children are embracing, learning, sharing, loving and practising te reo Māori in a way that wasn't done by the older generations."
Sam Hema. Photo / File
Tauranga City Council Takawaenga Māori Unit adviser Sam Hema said the unit was specifically designed to help locals and council staff understand and pronounce Māori names.
"Everything is in the name of a place. Otūmoetai is the name of the pā in the area, it has great significance to the people there but you get all sorts of bastardised versions being spoken.
"I'll give two points for effort for everyone who gives the names a crack but there are a lot of everyday New Zealanders who won't make time to understand the way a Māori name is constructed and how it is pronounced."
Hema said Tauranga and Mauao were always mispronounced which, in his view, didn't bode well for any other Māori name in the city.
