A red carpet in the main street of Ruatoria is not a sight you see every day. But the East Coast town had reason to celebrate in style with the world premiere of a unique Maori language resource celebrating the dialect of Ngati Porou.
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A web series titled He Aha To Say? was launched with a premiere screening at Radio Ngati Porou in Ruatoria.
Created by the East Coast iwi radio station, the show is a series of 12 half-hour “webisodes” that canvas the views of 23 “Naati’’ (Ngati Porou whanau) on various subjects.
All 12 webisodes are online and can be viewed on Radio Ngati Porou’s social media platforms through Facebook and KZread.
He Aha To Say? is a fun show that is quintessentially “Naati”, says Radio Ngati Porou chief executive Erana Keelan-Reedy.
“It showcases Ngati Porou reo; it showcases various characters of Ngati Porou; it showcases Ngati Porou in its entirety,” she says.
The title He Aha To Say?’ is taken from a song by East Coast composer Tuini Ngawai.
“It’s a play on language, the language of Ngati Porou. We like crossing from English to Maori and using transliterations.
“This is a resource that can be delivered online for those Naati who live outside of the region and want to learn Ngati Porou reo, and our kiwaha (phrases),” said Mrs Keelan-Reedy.
“We hope it inspires our rangatahi to see the value in our language.”
“We launched the promo video of the show on Monday morning and it has had nearly 50,000 views and over 1000 shares,” said Mrs Keelan-Reedy.
“I knew Ngati Porou would love it but I didn’t realise how much.”
Radio Ngati Porou has a history of creating resources and holds archival footage of Ngati Porou whanau who have since passed on.
These are recognised as treasures for current and future generations.
He Aha To Say? is another example of this type of work.
“It is the same thing but has been created and delivered through a new medium, through new technology,” said Mrs Keelan-Reedy. “We have nanny and papa’s voices from yesteryear in our archives. These webisodes will also be a taonga (treasure) for future generations.
“We’ve always been focused on te reo o Ngati Porou as our content, and our goal is to produce as much local content as we can.”
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