Wētā Workshop adds macrons to undo misuse of te reo Māori

Monday, 15 November 2021

Missing macrons meant Weta Workshop was mistakenly named after excrement, rather than the spiky native insect. (File photo)

Two little dashes have transformed the meaning behind the name of New Zealand’s most well-known special effects company.

For years, missing macrons meant Weta Workshop was mistakenly named after excrement, rather than the spiky native insect.

According to Hēmi Kelly, a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama, the faculty of Maori Studies at AUT, the correct way to spell weta, as in the insect, is with a macron on the ē and the ā.

The macrons indicate the vowel sounds should be elongated – weh-taa.

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Without them, the word means something quite different – “It’s excrement. S…,” Kelly said.

Now Weta has become Wētā, with the addition of macrons to its website and publicity material.

Coca-Cola’s “Kia ora, mate” signage didn’t go down well, with te reo Māori speakers pointing out it translated to “Hello, death.” (File photo)

General manager David Wilks said Wētā Workshop was building its knowledge of te ao Māori, including tikanga, te reo Māori and relationships with mana whenua.

That included adding macrons to Wētā Workshop to ensure the native insect was correctly represented.

“Earlier this year we began looking into all the places our logo and name appears and updating them all,” Wilks said.

“It’s a big job and it will take time for everything to be changed over, [but] we’re pleased to say we are well on our way.”

While unfortunate, Wētā Workshop’s mistake is not unusual, with dozens of companies, both here and overseas, bearing botched te reo names or making cultural faux pas through their use of Māori words or imagery.

In 2018, Coca-Cola was called out after running signage around New Zealand that read: “Kia ora, mate.” “Mate” is the te reo Māori word for “death” or “dead”.

Wellington leather goods retailer Huruhuru faced criticism last year when it was revealed the word “huruhuru” is commonly used in te reo to refer to pubic hair.

A spokeswoman for the store said it had no negative intent when choosing its name, which had been approved by the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.

Spanish fashion brand Kimoa, founded by former Formula One driver Fernando Alonso, also felt the heat after launching its “Māori” collection last year.

Photos on the brand’s website showed two models with their faces painted in an approximation of tā moko, which critics said were equivalent to the use of blackface.