Māori business names expose the aroha double standard

You may have seen my article yesterday in regard to the Aroha Collective controversy and a bunch of Māori absolutely losing their kaka over an Australian woman using the word aroha in her business name. You can read about it here:

After reading through the outrage, I decided to do a little digging myself. I headed over to Whakiri, a directory of Māori-owned businesses. I only had time to look at Auckland, but the question quickly became obvious. What do these Māori-owned business names have in common?

The Box – CrossFit Waitakere
Trade Jobs NZ
Cover Up
Nexus Electrical Ltd
Trade Credit Customer Management Platform
Property Scouts Manukau
Collaboration House
One Fit Hire
Inside Out Cleaners
Critical
Brandistry
Native Media
Head Cases Hair Salon
Child Advocacy New Zealand
ITraffic
Arc Evolution Steel
Accurate Plasterboards
Rose Makeup and Beauty
Auckland Garden Services

I’ll make it easy for you. They are almost all English names.

These are Māori-owned businesses operating in New Zealand, yet there is hardly any te reo Māori being used in their branding at all. You can look for yourself at https://www.whariki.co.nz/whariki-directory-new and see how many te reo Māori business names jump out at you. It’s not many, if any.

So that raises an obvious question. If the use of Māori words in business names is so sacred, so protected, and apparently so offensive when used by the “wrong” people, why are Māori business owners themselves overwhelmingly choosing English names?

I looked even further, and something else stood out.

What do these Māori-owned businesses have in common?

Pizza Presto
Pici Pasta
House of de Loree
Coco’s Cantina
Sweet Azz Hawaiian BBQ

These businesses are borrowing words from other languages altogether. Italian. French. Spanish. Hawaiian. No outrage. No pile-ons. No accusations of cultural theft. No demands for koha or public apologies.