New Kupu for Wakatū

As part of our te reo Māori strategy, we’re increasing the use of te reo Māori across Wakatū – and we’re bringing in some new te reo Māori terms for some of our schemes and programmes.

Three terms we introduced last year at Wakatū:

Te Rautaki Haumanu Haungahuru – Making the Tenths’ Whole strategy

Te Hunga Panuku – formerly known as the Wakatū alumni group

Te Amonuku – our associate director and manager programme

Rōpata Taylor, General Manager, Manaaki, explains the background behind the new terms: ‘It’s exciting that we are using more and more te reo Māori across Wakatū and our associated businesses. With rautaki, meaning strategy; haumanu, to rejuvenate, revive or restore to health; and haungahuru meaning tenth, Te Rautaki Haumanu Haungahuru is a translation of Making the Tenths’ Whole strategy,’ Rōpata says.

‘However, when you are translating between Māori and English, it’s not always necessary to have a literal, word-for-word translation. You can instead explore ways of using te reo Māori that express the concept and meaning behind the words. This is the approach we took with Te Hunga Panuku and Te Amonuku.’

Te Hunga Panuku is our new name for the community of people connected through Wakatū education programmes and scholarships.

‘For some time, we have been calling the group of people who have participated in one of our education programmes, training, scholarships, wānanga or one-off projects our alumni. However, the word ‘alumni’ is often used in the context of people who have graduated from academic institutions such as universities and, increasingly, it didn’t feel like the right fit for us. Our kaumātua, Rore Stafford, encouraged us to find a name for this group that better reflects the kaupapa of the group, and of Wakatū,’ says Rōpata.

The name Te Hunga Panuku has a broad meaning of a group of people moving up and forward together.

Te Amonuku is our new name for our associate director and associate manager programme. This programme provides our Owners with the opportunity to gain experience in the governance and management of Wakatū. It’s an important part of our succession planning, helping to ensure we have people who have the skills and experience to lead our organisation.

Te Amonuku was chosen as it is a play on ‘amorangi’, meaning leader, and using ‘nuku’ as a nod to the partnership between Rangi and Papa and associate and director/manager. ‘Papa’ is also an appropriate reference for this programme, given this notion of succession planning and creating new leaders, and it also means to move, shift or extend.

Amonuku will be used as both the name of the position and the programme.

‘We acknowledge Dr Karena Kelly (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine) a linguist and te reo Māori specialist who worked with us to create the kupu Te Amonuku and Te Rautaki Haumanu Haungahuru,’ Ropata says.

‘Having te reo Māori terms for our programmes is another way we are reaffirming our commitment to supporting the taonga of te reo Māori.’