Māori Language Week 2021
This year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) was a great celebration of the first official language of Aotearoa and brought joy and connection especially for those in Tāmaki Makaurau (including the City Rail Link team) still in lockdown.
Between 13-19 September, City Rail Link (CRL) and our main contractor, the Link Alliance, took the opportunity to share resources and embrace te reo Māori through our social media channels, internal newsletters and day to day lives.
A few of the highlights from the week included:
Multi Service Vehicle (MSV) Naming Competition
During Māori Language Week, Link Alliance asked the community to suggest te reo names for one of the tunnel boring machine’s MSV. The prize for the winning entrant was a $200 Sabato Voucher, an Italian and Spanish delicatessen, and Mt Eden Station neighbour.
A MSV is a strong vehicle that transports materials into the City Rail Link tunnels from above ground at our Mt Eden construction site.
‘Waka Pokorua’ (Waka meaning ‘vehicle’ and Pokorua meaning ‘ant’) was chosen as the winning name, nominated by 7-year-old Honor and her Mum, Ngāwai.
Honor put forward the name Waka Pokorua for the MSV as she thought it "looks like a big ant and does the same kind of mahi".
Ngā mihi Honor, Ngāwai and to everyone else for their thoughtful submissions.
Key facts in te reo
Key facts about CRL were published in te reo on our social media channels.
3.45 kiromita te roa o te ara tereina o CRL. (CRL is a rail link 3.45km long).
Kei te TBM he ingoa nā tētehi wahine rongonui nō Aotearoa – Kahurangi Whina Cooper. (The TBM is named after a famous woman from Aotearoa - Dame Whina Cooper).
Mēna he hui tāu kei Te Komititanga, kei waho koe i te teihana Waitematā. (If you have a meeting at Te Komititanga, you’d be outside the CRL Britomart Station).
I te tau 2019, kei Maunga Whau a CRL i huke he rakau tāwhito – neke atu i te 250,000 tau. (In 2019, CRL uncovered fragments of an old tree near Mt Eden – that were 250,000 years old).
Ko Karanga a Hape te teihana hohonu rawa kei Aotearoa, a, 32 mēte. (The Karangahape station will be Aotearoa's deepest station at 32m).
Kids Resources
Link Alliance created kid's activities inspired by Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. The activities can be downloaded and completed by clicking on the images below.
Wordfind
Colour by number
