Kia ora e te whānau,
Nau mai, hoki mai ki Te Arawhata—the Māori-Non Māori collab edition!
This week’s picks include a very controversial album release, pseudo Latin spells with karakia Māori, John Lennon, and much more to keep that cultural kete full to the brim.
First up/Tuatahi, katia/close the ‘stuff’ page, kua tae mai te wā/the time has come for ‘talk of the tāone’.
- History will be in the making at Hastings' inaugural Māori language festival this August and you can be there for it!
- Toi Whakaari only have one night left of two epic shows in Te Whanganui-a-Tara about (1840 & 1869) Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
- Fred Graham’s exhibition 'Toi Whakaari/Reflection,' celebrating 70 years of his art is a hit. He’s 95 years young for those doing the math.
- The cast for live-action Moana has been announced and Rena Owen is just one of the major talents on the list.
- The ‘We Were Dangerous’ trailer has been released for the NZ Film Fest and looks mīharo/amazing!
- Shane Hansen is makin— keeping stamp collecting cool with his new Matariki stamp art.
Parts of this EP release are an absolute moepapa/nightmare to watch, but that’s why we picked it, because we reckon the way the team handles the tautohetohe/controversy—with grace, respect, and conviction—is a pretty handy roadmap for us all to collaborative success. And thank god they stuck to their guns, because we love the album.
Find it: on TVNZ I Time: 15mins I Cost: free I Credits: produced by Notable Pictures, featuring Lorde, Hana Mereraiha, Dame Hinewehi Mohi, and Sir Tīmoti Karetu.
Busted. We’re not just Ngāti Nerds, we’re kaiquidditch/quidditch player wannabe, butterbeer craving, Potterheads. This is a Pānia Papa guaranteed reo Māori level-up for intermediate-advanced learners. If you’re not there yet, it’s an exciting ‘one day’ whāinga/goal that you can pop on the bookshelf to keep you going. If you don’t like Harry Potter, we’ve got nothing to say.
Find it: on the Auckland University Press website I Time: 324 pages worth I Cost: $29.99 I Credits: original written by J.K Rowling, this version translated by Leon Heketū Blake, the audiobook is narrated by Pānia Papa and Tiane Tawera.
This waiata has been an anthem for kotahitanga/unity, ever since Hirini Melbourne penned it for the 1984 Festival of Pacific Arts in New Caledonia (ironically cancelled due to political instability). A popular pick for kaupapa Māori events up and down the country, it’s a goody to have in your back pūkoro/pocket AND an absolute jam.
Find it: on Spotify I Time: 40mins I Cost: free with your account I Credits: Band members include Jeremy and his parents Jenny and Renny Hantler, Ryan McIntyre and his māmā, Sharon McIntyre, as well as Ryan Monaghan.
Rob McGowan aka Pa Ropata and Donna Kerridge are mātanga/experts when it comes to rongoā/Māori medicine. They’re also an example of how Māori and Pākeha partnership can be upheld at the highest level in traditionally very Māori spaces. We hugely appreciate how much mātauranga/knowledge they’re willing to share with plebs like us and we’re definitely signing up. Come with!
Find them: on their company website (Titoki Education) I Time: two days I Cost: from $260 I Credits: Titoki is run by Pa Ropata, Donna Kerridge and Karen Tindall.
The more I learn about language, the more my fascination and admiration for the art of translation grows.
When you really think about it, there are a kazillion different ways to translate any sentence and often a lot riding on which ara/path you lock in; business reputations, for example, the mana of the original mahi, the constitution of a country…
So how do expert kaiwhakamāori/Māori translators, like the ones leading the collabs featured in this pānui/newsletter, make their decisions?
Haere tonu/Continue on for a couple behind-the-scenes explanations from this week’s research that blew our language-learner hinengaro/minds (fellow Ngāti Nerds, you’ll be all over this one).
‘Hākari’, a kupu/word meaning ‘to feast, entertain, or adorn the hair’ was chosen as the name for Hagrid based on two defining character features—his hospitality and his hairyness.
When it came to translating spells like ‘expecto patronum’, Blake explained he would be researching traditional Māori karakia to find the perfect fit. “In Māori, a lot of people don't know we've got lots of different 'spells'. There are spells for putting people to sleep, or for making someone invisible.”
(learned in this Stuff article)
The word for word option, ‘Ko te pani ngutu pāpango kei te hautō’, just wasn’t fitting the tempo of te waiata/the song.
Nō reira/And so when Lorde explained she had used the lipstick to boost her self confidence—and the line celebrated the fact she no longer relied on it, Mereraiha ran with it from a Māori perspective.
The resulting line is ‘Whitikina koe e te rā, ko tō ātārangi ka mahue ki muri,‘ meaning ‘The rays of the sun are casting your shadows/doubts/past behind you,’ perfectly encapsulating the idea that those days are always a part of you, but just no longer in this present light.
(learned in this Waiata Anthems episode)
Clever nē? And fun. And hecka impactful.
Ki our mātanga reo, our kaiako, our translators, who sweat the small stuff to choose the right kupu that will bridge gaps, transfer ideas, and connect cultures, e mihi ana ki a koutou i tō mahi i tō hautūtanga. Absolute legends.
That’s us e te whānau. We actually don’t even mind if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, we still hope this newsletter helped you to learn from, connect with, and just ruddy well enjoy te ao Māori today.
Mauri ora!
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