TAUPŌ DISTRICT TAKING TE REO MĀORI TO THE STREETS
NEW BILINGUAL STREET SIGNS in Turangi have gone down a treat with locals and visitors alike. The signs in both English and Te Reo Māori are the work of the Turangi Tongariro Community Board, and board chair Clint Green said the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The signs at the entrance to town needed to be upgraded and the idea of making them bilingual was floated by councillor John Mack and Te Takinga New of the community board,” Mr Green said.
“The board was in complete agreement that this was a great idea and Zak Winduss of Taupō District Council, who is our customer support leader here in Turangi, made it happen in a matter of days. It was a pretty simple process really and we’ve had lots of feedback – all of it positive. I even had Newshub approach me for comment, so I laid down the challenge from Turangi for the rest of New Zealand to follow suit!”
Mr Winduss said he has also received very positive feedback. “It has been overwhelming how warmly the signs have been received by the community,” he said. “The unanimously positive response is a clear message that this move is something the people of Turangi feel proud of and it’s been so heartening to see.”
A project is also underway to add macrons and correct some spelling inconsistencies in street signs across the district. Iwi and co-governance manager Dylan Tahau said macrons were being added to signs in several streets and communities, and ‘te’ was also being added to Heuheu Street, making it te Heuheu, and Hatepe Street, making it te Hatepe.
“This project is about making sure our streets’ names are spelt correctly as they reflect the people, places, and things they are named after,” Mr Tahau said.
“There is a danger that we change history by not doing things right. The macrons and spelling will assist us to honour the people, places and history that the street names represent. Like the ‘o’ in Taupō; the macron depicts an elongated vowel sound and when not used can alter the meaning of the word.”