Hana Kōkō (Santa) is expecting record te reo Māori letters this year. Image / Supplied
They say practice makes perfect and, if that’s the case, Santa’s te reo Māori is going to be ka rawe this Christmas.
Alongside New Zealand Post, Santa is expected to answer more letters in te reo Māori than ever before, according to the forwarder's Te Kai a te Rangatira founding member Heremia Nikora.
“We’ve sent hundreds of responses in te reo Māori over the past few years and in 2021, we delivered more letters on Santa’s behalf than ever before,” Nikora says.
“NZ Post and Hana Kōkō (Santa) understand the importance of using more te reo Māori in our everyday lives and we are proud to be a part of a generation that is seeing a groundswell revival of our indigenous language.”
Last year NZ Post responded to almost 100,000 letters to Santa in both te reo Māori and English.
Messages can be sent online using the interactive www.nzpost.co.nz/writetosanta website, or by post.
Te reo Māori is front and centre for letters to Hana Kōkō.
Ho, ho, ho
The website lets tamariki send Santa an online letter – as well as having special access to his ‘Ho Ho Homepage’, where they can read Santa’s emails, play games, listen to North Pole FM and browse Santa’s holiday snaps too.
The deadline for website requests for personalised postcards from Santa delivered in the post is Monday, November 28, while all online messages received by Santa up until 5pm, Thursday, December 22, will receive a response.
Teachers can receive a postcard from Santa to their classroom by visiting www.nzpost.co.nz/teacherswritetosanta before Monday, 14 November.
The Freepost address for handwritten letters to Santa is
Santa Claus
c/- Santa’s Workshop
North Pole 0001
The last day for posting handwritten letters to Santa to receive a reply in the mail is Friday, December 2 but these are not personalised, so using the website for a funnier, interactive and more personalised experience is encouraged.