Celebrating Māori Language Week - Me Whai Rautaki (Make a Plan!)

Te Reo Māori was first recognised as an official language in Aotearoa in the Māori Language Act (more recently replaced by the Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori Act) which affirms the status of the Māori language as a taonga of iwi – a language valued by our great nation and important to NZ identity.

With the fairly recent inclusion of Matariki as a public holiday in Aotearoa as well as the renaming of a number of government agencies, it feels that we are moving in the right direction in including and recognising the special place that both the indigenous culture and the Te Reo language plays in who we are as New Zealanders.

Certainly, many businesses have endeavoured to incorporate Māori words and greetings into their communications and (in some cases) meeting structures – starting meetings with a karakia and participants delivering a brief mihi by way of introduction. Having said that we can (and should) do more to ensure we incorporate Te Reo Māori in our lives as proud New Zealanders. 

So how can we include more Te Reo Māori in our working lives? One of our team was gifted the below book (Māori at Work – The everyday guide to using te reo Māori in the workplace – by Scotty Morrison) as a Christmas gift and we have enjoyed looking up various relevant business terms and phrases and using them in the office. It’s a great book and we highly recommend it for every office / worksite (you can buy it here: Māori at Work - Whitcoulls)

Expanding your knowledge of tikanga, kawa and Māori values and considering ways to get more Te Reo Māori in your life and work is a great exercise and can be a really fun team building activity! Let’s celebrate our fabulous Māori culture in Māori Language Month (and every week). Bilingual Signage in the Office – what signs could you make bilingual that give your team the opportunity to learn and use the language in their day to day lives? How can you Learn, Listen, Sing, Read, Write, Speak (ako, whakarongo, waiata, pānui, tuhi and kōrero) in your workplace incorporating Te Reo Māori!

  • Inclusion of Te Reo in Greeting and Meetings - Tēnā koe (formal) - a greeting to one person or Tēnā kōrua (formal) - a greeting to two or, for those larger teams, Tēnā koutou (formal) - greetings to three or more people.

  • Use of Te Reo in Emails and Correspondence – greetings, farewells and through better known or easy to learn works or phrases such as “thanks for the hard work thanks for your mahi!” could be a great start. Changing your email signature to include the Te Reo Māori translation of your job title would be great!

  • Māori Principles and Values in the workplace - perhaps through Karakia

  • Te Reo during speeches – two years ago none of our team knew the term “across the motu” meant “around New Zealand”. Thanks to Dr Bloomfield, we’ve gotten used to and learnt this phrase! Recently one of our teams 75-year-old, Greek father decided it was time he learnt his mihi. Its never too late to embrace Te Reo Māori!

So, come on New Zealand, lets celebrate this beautiful and unique culture which we are so lucky to have to underpin our country. Our favourite phrase at work is “Me Whai Rautaki” – make a plan! Make a plan today about how you’re doing to embrace and celebrate Te Reo Māori in your workplace!

  • Your Core HR Pūmanawa Tangata (Human Resources) Team

Core HR