Te Kaharoa

Ngā Kōrero: 1808 and 1814 Māori-Russian Encounters in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Historical Tapestry

Olga Suvorova — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 22:39:59 +0000

This article delves into the underexplored realm of early 19th-century interactions between Māori and Russians. It focuses on Captain Vasily Golovnin’s encounter with Te Pahi’s son Matara (Ngāpuhi) in 1808 at the Cape of Good Hope and the meeting between “Suvorov” officers and Māori chiefs Korokoro, Ruatara, Hongi Hika and other Māori in Parramatta in 1814. By analysing Russian sailors’ logs and memoirs, the article explores the Russians’ perception of Māori, their communication strategies and Te Reo Māori. Importantly, it offers English translations of Russian primary accounts that have never been translated in full before, providing significant contributions to heritage preservation for hapū and iwi.

Who is the language policy for? Translation discrepancies and their implications to (dis)trust

Chien Ju Ting, Wei Teng — Wed, 22 May 2024 22:16:46 +0000

This paper investigates the impact of language policy translation as a discursive action on historical and political mechanisms of trust within the context of Indigenous language revitalization in Taiwan. Combining a critical discourse studies approach and translation theories, we examine the translation discrepancies between the Chinese source text and the English translation of Tawain’s Indigenous Language Development Act (2017). We focus on the analysis of the interpersonal meanings conveyed by two Chinese modal verbs (ying/應 and de/得), aiming to elucidate how Taiwan’s Government positions itself within both language versions. The findings suggest that the government constructs itself as more actively responsible for the Indigenous language development in the English version. This strategic move reflects the government’s commitment to enhancing Taiwan’s international reputation as the English version is meant for global audiences. Considering language policy is inherently ideological with the government’s political intentions, we discuss the implication of distrust created by the translation discrepancy. This study highlights that language policy translation can be recontextualized to suit a government’s political agendas and ideological appropriations.

Exploring the Role of a Māori Kin Insider Researcher’s Positionality

Rochelle MacKintosh — Wed, 22 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This paper aims to shed light on my positionality in my doctoral research by exploring some of the advantages and challenges faced as a Māori kin insider researcher conducting research in my own kin community of Te Araroa. It highlights my chosen positionality and the role that whakapapa research methodology and kinship can play in a Māori kin community study. This is my journey as a Māori kin insider researcher, and I acknowledge that my experiences may differ from those of other Māori kin insider researchers. The complexities surrounding my positionality are explained by drawing on critical themes such as kin included researcher, kin accountability, social boundary theory and reflexivity. For other Māori kin insider researchers and indigenous researchers working within their own kin community, I hope this paper will offer helpful information to understand some of these complexities.

Kia ora from the new Editor

Georgina Stewart — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 16:10:17 +0000

This editorial marks a change in the editorship of the journal, reflects on its history and the current political moment for Māori, and issues a call for submissions and proposals for special issues.

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

Rochelle MacKintosh — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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?