Ko wai tō ingoa? Healing from language trauma by renaming and reclaiming ourselves using te reo Māori

Project Summary

The proposed te reo Māori publication is the culmination of a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (te reo me ngā tikanga Māori) project that ran from 2019 to 2021. One of the outputs of this research was a digital online resource using the visual and written naming narratives of 6 participants around their te reo journeys and why they chose to take up Māori names later in life. 

These narratives discuss the motivations and importance of such decisions; politically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually for them and their communities. There is a large gap in the current literature around what motivates us to use and quite literally carry te reo Māori with us, in our names. This publication is a prime opportunity to contribute to this area and to disseminate more widely the benefits of te reo reclamation and emancipation from language trauma, by renaming ourselves to reclaim ourselves. 

Importantly, participants like Dr Hinekura Smith, Hineitimoana Greensill, Dr Te Rita Papesch, Dr Ruakere Hond and Atakohu Middleton are featured in this publication, therefore there will be much interest across reo Māori communities, not just in terms of reading about the reo journeys and naming narratives of these poukōrero but because their stories are written completely in te reo Māori. This publication is also directed at our tamariki and taiohi at KKM and Wharekura through the addition of two lesson plans for years 7&8 and 9&10 co-designed between the author and a Māori education expert. 

Project Lead

Dr Hotukura Wharehoka, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi