Kia ora! Te reo Māori permanent part of the Portal

Kia ora!

This is how your Portal homepage now greets you after you've logged in (see the right top corner next to the search box). Although the kupu (word) is small, the meaning is great as kia ora can be used to say hello, express gratitude, send love or luck and to make a connection. We made this change to our Portal homepage, along with te reo Māori translations for our main headings, as a step to bring more te reo Māori into our everyday mahi.

Māori play an important role in building community resilience, reducing risk and informing emergency response, making them significant stakeholders in our operations. By each of us improving our knowledge and use of te reo Māori, we’ll be able to form better relationships and serve Māori in our communities.

About ‘Kia ora’.

In its simplest form, kia ora means hello. However, it's more than just a passing greeting as it references life and health. The kupu 'ora' refers to a state of living or being alive and by adding 'kia', it changes it from a noun to a verb, so rather than 'alive' it is 'living'. So, when you say kia ora to someone, you are wishing the essence of life upon them.

You can use kia ora to:

-          wish someone well

-          greet or farewell

-          say thank you

-          affirm support

-          or to say a friendly ‘cheers’.

It’s good to note that kia ora is a pretty informal phrase, kind of like ‘gidday’. You can use ‘Tēnā koe’ for formal situations.

As you can see kia ora is a pretty versatile phrase and a great way to use te reo Māori every day. And what better time to start than this week for Te Wiki o te reo Māori, the Week of Māori Language.