Whanganui District Health Board puts te reo Māori first in its signage. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Health Board puts te reo Māori first in its signage. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui's public institutions are taking Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori to heart - and embedding Māori language in their daily operations.
As a kaupapa Māori organisation, Te Oranganui health and social service provider encouraged the use of te reo Māori at all times, regardless of what cultural background itsstaff and service users had, chief executive Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata said.
"It's really important that all of our kaimahi know how to pronounce names and understand greetings. The level of commitment escalates from there."
Some kaimahi (workers) are participating in Mahuru Māori, an effort to speak te reo Māori during the marama o Mahuru (month of September) as well as Te Wiki o te Reo Māori this week.
"We're encouraging whānau to talk Māori only for an hour, several hours a day. That's really attempting to support people at all ends of the spectrum."
The kaimahi and whānau who use Te Oranganui services, and its manuhiri (visitors), have different degrees of fluency. Sometimes things have to be translated or explained.
"It's important that we start out with where they're at. But they certainly will come to understand that te reo is an important aspect of what we do," Walsh-Tapiata said.
Te Oranganui has karakia (prayers) every morning - by Zoom during lockdown.
"Each service is encouraged to lead karakia and mihimihi (informal introductions) and to sing waiata and moteatea."
Its signs are in both Māori and te reo Pākehā (English), and all its buildings have Maōri names from the local region.
Walsh-Tapiata said she was pleased to watch the presence of te reo Māori increase in New Zealand life.
"It's for anybody and everybody in our community. It makes for a much more robust community, because it's all around us," she said.
Whanganui District Health Board has a Māori first policy in all its signage.
The staff induction process has a strong Māori and te reo Māori slant. Staff are offered te reo Māori classes, and meetings begin with karakia.
The DHB's social media platforms will celebrate Te Wiki and resources will be shared, and the main cafeteria will have its menu available in te reo.
The DHB's Te Hau Ranga Ora Māori Health Service will take part in the Māori Language Moment at noon on Tuesday. People can register online at www.reomaori.co.nz, then celebrate in whatever way they choose at midday - perhaps with a waiata or karakia.
Te Hau Ranga Ora will also start to share kupu and whakatauki (sayings) on its intranet.
Whanganui UCOL was totally immersive and more than a third of its students were Māori or Pasifika, campus manager Bronwyn Paul said.
Staff are learning the language, and tutors are teaching it at other work sites, such as Whanganui District Health Board and Whanganui District Council. Those classes are open to anyone.
"We have tutors that are so passionate that they want to go above and beyond," Paul said.
New UCOL staff are welcomed with a mihi whakatau, and a waiata begins the day.
"It's really beautiful hearing those multiple voices."
The commitment to te reo Māori gave the campus a "whānau" feel, Paul said.
For Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori UCOL has made a YouTube video where tutors introduce themselves and their subjects in te reo. It is planning other events, including shared kai in the atrium - but waiting to hear whether they meet Covid-19 protocols.
Some private businesses are following the lead of the big organisations.
Countdown supermarkets use bilingual signage. Photo / supplied
Progressive Enterprises, the owner of Countdown supermarkets, was committed to promoting the use of te reo Māori throughout the year, a spokesperson said.
It uses te reo in customer communications and in its online shopping website and puts up bilingual signs in its stores.
To mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, it is adding Māori language to its television advertising, social media and in-store radio, and traditional Māori kai is being shared in its lunchrooms across Aotearoa.
Whanganui's Central City Pharmacy can do medicine labels in both English and te reo Māori, and the signs in its store are in both languages.
"We were really impressed with it when we took over, and we carried on doing the labels," pharmacist and owner Stacey Simpson said.
"Not everyone needs them, but every couple of weeks one or two people do. The pharmacy has some standard translations, for common instructions like "take one tablet every four hours".
Care was still needed, Simpson said, and all the labels were in both languages.
