As the country is once again drowned in a mana wave of compulsory cultural performance for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, the 6pm news has become a relentless theatre of overused te reo catchphrases. Every anchor, reporter and weather presenter parrots the same handful of Māori words like it’s a scripted audition, and the rest of us are expected to politely applaud as if linguistic window dressing equates to progress.
But as I was putting together an image to publish on X this Sunday, something gnawed at me - despite the billions poured into te reo revitalisation, there are gaping holes in the language, especially when it comes to words that actually reflect the darker realities of Māori life.
We are endlessly told by academics, activists and the media that methamphetamine and cannabis are consumed at epidemic levels within Māori communities. Yet, bizarrely, these words have no native te reo equivalents. We get shiny new translations for “internet” and “email” within minutes, but when it comes to words linked to addiction, abuse, and crime? Silence. Apparently, the architects of modern te reo are only interested in translating the pretty parts of life, not the ones that might tarnish the glossy PR veneer.
It’s the same shit the media perform every day. When they run feel-good puff pieces about some 23-year-old Māori arts graduate who became the “first in their whānau” to get a degree (with the obligatory Māori-only scholarship), they never fail to trumpet their iwi and hapū affiliations like a badge of honour.
When it comes to reporting on crime? When a baby has been bashed, or some Māori bloke got caught importing kilos of meth? Suddenly, the whakapapa vanishes. No iwi names. No cultural connection. No context. Just a convenient amnesia that preserves the illusion of cultural perfection while reality is quietly swept under the korowai.
