Finalists for the Best Reo Maori Album to be announced at the Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hastings next week.
Adding to their "kete" of knowledge is how staff at one Bay of Plenty health organisation are incorporating te reo Māori into their work.
Learning te reo Māori has also given the staff at Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation (PHO) a way to improve the experience of theirpatients.
Kiri Peita, the organisation's director of Māori health and wellbeing, said seeking to understand and celebrate diversity meant learning to respond in culturally intelligent and relational ways.
It meant learning the language, and learning the language also meant learning the culture.
"[Learning] te reo Māori is one way by which staff can demonstrate an intent to engage respectfully to enhance the experience of Māori in health care," Peita told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Since 2003, the Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation has helped to plan, fund and coordinate healthcare alongside family doctors, nurses and hauora workers at general practices, medical centres and community clinics.
Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation director Māori health and wellbeing Kiri Peita. Photo / Supplied
The organisation also provides free programmes for breast cancer and cervical screening, diabetes management, immunisation and quitting smoking.
"We do more than just care for people who are unwell," Peita said.
The organisation's te reo journey began in 2019 with a staff survey.
"We received positive feedback and gratitude for the opportunity that the organisation acknowledges the value of te reo Māori," Peita said.
The organisation also received many suggestions from staff for te reo learning sessions which formed the basis for the current language programme: He Pounamu.
"The sessions are one hour fortnightly and are pitched at beginners," Peita said.
"There are opportunities to have one-on-one support outside of regular sessions such as 10-minute huddles to reinforce and extend your reo."
The Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health team at te reo Māori class (left to right) Chris Dever, Teena Jorgensen and Te Haana Jacob (onscreen), Dorlé Van Westhuizen and Emma Skellern. Photo / Supplied
Naming the organisation's te reo Māori learning programme, He Pounamu, reflected the aims and environment of each session.
"Traditionally, pounamu (greenstone) is regarded as a talisman," Peita said.
"There is a whakataukī (proverb), 'Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu'. Although it is small it is a treasure and has great value.
"Often the humblest is the most precious, the most treasured. Within this context it means, whatever we learn, no matter how small, is valuable and adds to our kete of knowledge."
Western Bay of Plenty PHO network services development facilitator Laura Penny said she had been excited and grateful to learn te reo at work.
"Learning about all aspects of Māori culture has opened me up to learning more about my own cultural background, which has been a really cool experience," Penny, who is from Scotland, said.
"Gaining knowledge of te reo has helped me understand and appreciate important aspects of Māori culture and the values that underpin these, subsequently allowing me to apply them in my mahi."
Penny believed it was "never too late" to learn te reo Māori.
"Nobody will care if you make mistakes or need to start from a complete beginner level," Penny said.
