Why has there been a recent shift to using transliteration for days and months of the year in Te Reo?

Abstract

This opinion piece aims to clarify the current shift of the days of weeks, and months of the year from ‘Māorified words’ (for example, Rāhina, Rātū) to the transliterations (for example, Mane, Tūrei) that some primary schools are implementing. This topic was raised at my daughters’ mainstream primary school when the teachers decided to use transliterations for days of the week and months of the year. This got me thinking: Why are transliterations of days of the week and months becoming more popular again in mainstream primary schools? Should we use words that better represent a Te Ao Māori way of measuring time? Which version should we use, or does it matter?