<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail-rmq-8968266a gmail-rmq-32195b59 gmail-ArticleHeader gmail-GridRow" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:86px 0px 41px;padding:0px;color:rgb(59,68,79);font-family:"Benton Sans","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18px;display:flex"><div class="gmail-rmq-4cef7562 gmail-rmq-ca36cccf gmail-ArticleHeader--Title gmail-GridColumn" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:712.172px"><h1 class="gmail-rmq-3610c77e gmail-rmq-c03c1ac gmail-Heading" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:32px;margin:0px;padding:0px;line-height:1.25;color:rgb(44,54,67)">Why you’ll be seeing more Māori place names pop up in Wellington</h1></div></div><div class="gmail-GridRow" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(59,68,79);font-family:"Benton Sans","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18px;display:flex"><div class="gmail-rmq-4cef7562 gmail-rmq-70a2869f gmail-rmq-86254199 gmail-ArticleContent gmail-GridColumn" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 0px 163.203px;padding:0px;font-size:20px;line-height:1.8;width:467.359px"><div id="gmail-theContent" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px"><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif">Visitors to <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/wellington" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">Wellington</a> will soon see a lot more <em style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px">te reo Māori</em> (Māori language) around as the city aims to be the heart of indigenous culture in <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">New Zealand</a> and give new respect to its heritage.</p><a href="https://lonelyplanetwpnews.imgix.net/2019/04/wellington-place-names-maori.jpg" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none"><img class="gmail-wp-image-240933 gmail-size-full" src="https://lonelyplanetwpnews.imgix.net/2019/04/wellington-place-names-maori.jpg" alt="" width="2400" height="1596" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; display: block; height: auto; width: 638.297px;"></a>More native place names will be seen around Wellington soon. Photo by Jacques van Dinteren/Getty Images<p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif">The language policy – named <em style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px">Te Tauihu</em> after the figurehead carves into Māori canoes – was first voted into practice in June 2018 and its first act was to dub Wellington’s Civic Square <em style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px">Te Ngākau</em>, meaning ‘the heart’. Since then, other places have been given new names in New Zealand’s native language.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif">The city’s waterfront is now called <em style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px">Ara Moana</em> (ocean pathway) and the nearby Frank Kitts Park is now Whairepo Lagoon. <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/wellington/attractions/wellington-zoo/a/poi-sig/440858/362813" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">Wellington Zoo</a> is also following the example set by the city council by giving their zones bilingual names and they’ve also created a fun game for kids to learn the names of animals in Māori.</p><a href="https://lonelyplanetwpnews.imgix.net/2019/04/maori-language-wellington.jpg" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none"><img class="gmail-wp-image-240931 gmail-size-full" src="https://lonelyplanetwpnews.imgix.net/2019/04/maori-language-wellington.jpg" alt="" width="724" height="483" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; display: block; height: auto; width: 638.297px;"></a>The campaign also wants to get people to use te reo Māori in shops and restaurants. Photo by andresr<p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif">The city spots reacquiring Māori names will continue to have English monikers too, they will simply be bilingual in a similar fashion to place names in some regions of <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">Ireland</a>. The eventual goal is for Wellington signs to be a <em style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px">te reo Māori</em> city by 2040, the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi between local chiefs and representatives of the British crown.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif">The place names will give the language a chance to be “seen and heard much more around our capital city,” said Mayor Justin Lester in the policy document. “We want to lead the way in making the language a core part of the cultural fabric and identity of our city and we’re already making good progress.”</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 64px;padding:0px;clear:both;font-family:"Miller Daily",Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/04/new-zealand-history-maori-culture-indigenous-language-te-reo/587599/?utm_content=edit-promo&utm_campaign=citylab&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=2019-04-23T18%3A36%3A10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">City Lab</a> also reports that a Māori heritage trail is also in the works, as is the retelling of Māori legends in playgrounds and at <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/new-zealand/auckland/attractions/mt-victoria/a/poi-sig/1073536/1341384" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(41,124,187);text-decoration-line:none">Mount Victoria</a>.</p></div></div></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>