Araraurangi Aotearoa, known to most as Air New Zealand, held its first Tohu Reo awards to acknowledge and celebrate its staff's commitment to te reo Māori at Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa Marae in Tāmaki Makaurau yesterday.
The 10 recipients will now wear Tohu Reo pins, indicating their fluency and identifying them as te reo Māori speakers to Air New Zealand customers.
It was a special way to kick start Mahuru Māori and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori for recipient Trish Maxwell-Richardson of Ngāi Tai ki Tōrere and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, a delivery enablement specialist at Air NZ.
“Tohu Reo is not new to Air NZ and I believe that it was brought forward around 2015, so there is a group. Those who have left Air NZ were the leaders in bringing this kaupapa into Air NZ but we do have those also who were part of making this possible joining us today at this kaupapa so I’m excited for the future where Air NZ is going,” she says.
Cultural development consultant Jahmaine Cummings-Hodge of Ngāti Hīkairo and Ngāti Whakaaue says over the past few years Air NZ has stepped up to embrace both te reo and te ao Māori.
Koro on the tails
“What I hope is that we’re seeing examples throughout the organization that provide a space of comfort for those that are wanting to go on that journey, where they can actually see themselves in those spaces as well. Seeing the moko kauae, the mataora in our officers in our airports, in our aircraft, only good things can come from that,” Cummings-Hodge says.
Sara Mulvey of Ngāti Mākino and Ngāti Pikiao, another recipient of a Tohu Reo pin, says it represents the coming together of two worlds, her taha Māori and her love for aviation.
“I guess I'm proud of the fact that today, I can bring my Māori self to mahi and never imagined that, that would be something and not necessarily just at Air New Zealand but in aviation in general. There are not too many Māori people in Air New Zealand and, with a koru on their aircraft tails, I think they have quite a responsibility to value our culture. Otherwise there's no point in having that on the tails,” Mulvey says.
For Mulvey, the reo is alive both at work and at home.
“I often use it to speak to my tamariki in te reo Māori … they go to kura kaupapa Māori and kōhanga reo and they often stop speaking te reo Māori when they leave the gates of their kura and kōhanga. So, Mahuru Māori sort of reminds me to keep using te reo in the kāinga. So they know it's normal outside of their kura and kōhanga.”
Araraurangi Aotearoa says Air NZ hopes to become a leader in normalising te reo Māori within the corporate sector and challenges other corporations to follow suit.