As part of the 2022 Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori celebrations, the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa is pleased to announce greater prominence to our te reo Māori name.
From today we will use Pou Taunaha New Zealand by Name. In te reo, Pou Taunaha refers to the process of naming places.
Our full official name remains the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa.
Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa metaphorically means ‘memorial markers of the landscape’ and was gifted to the Board by the late Sir James Henare in the 1980s.
To reflect the change today, we are also pleased to share a new logo design to symbolise the mahi of the Board.
“The new logo combines a location marker and the notion of speech marks with a double koru or spiral, a symbol of growing together and te Hei Matau — Māui’s fishhook, a symbol of abundance, strength and determination. They merge to form a stylised map of Aotearoa New Zealand, using colours that reflect the natural world,” says Board Secretary, Wendy Shaw.
“The image is intended to capture the essence of what Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa does, as the independent statutory body of government, and legal authority making New Zealand place names official,” she says.
E whakanuia ana e Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa tōna ingoa Māori
Hei wāhanga o ngā mahi whakanui i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2022, e harikoa ana a Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa ki te pānui kua kaha ake te ahurei o tō mātou ingoa Māori.
Haere ake nei kua whakamahia ko Pou Taunaha New Zealand by Name. Ki te reo Māori, e tohu ana te Pou Taunaha i te tukanga taunaha wāhi.
Ka mau tonu te katoa o tō mātou ingoa mana, te New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa.
He kupu whakarite a Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa, ko tōna tikanga ko ‘ngā tohu whakamaharatanga o te matawhenua’, he ingoa i takohatia mai ki te Poari i ngā tau 1980 e Tā James Henare kua whetūrangitia nei.
E whakaatahia ai te panonitanga i te rangi nei, e waingōhia ana hoki mātou ki te whakaatu i tētahi hoahoa waitohu hou hei tohu i te mahi a te Poari.
Hei tā te Hēkeretari o te Poari, a Wendy Shaw, “E paheko ana te waitohu hou i tētahi tohu wāhi me te ariā o te tohukī ki te koru taurua, te tohu o te tupu tahi me te Hei Matau — te matau a Māui, te tohu o te huhuatanga, te kaha me te hiringa. E piri ana ki te hanga i tētahi mahere whaihanga o Aotearoa, ko ngā tae e whakaahua ana i te taiao māori.”
Hei tāna anō, “E whai ana te āhua ki te hopu i te ngako o tā Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa i mahi ai, ko ia nei hoki te rōpū ā-ture motuhake a te kāwanatanga, te mana ā-ture ki te whakamana ingoa wāhi o Aotearoa.”
Media contact
Email: media@linz.govt.nz