Matua Kahurangi: Māori business names expose the aroha double standard

You may have seen my article yesterday in regard to the Aroha Collective controversy and a bunch of Māori absolutely losing their kaka over an Australian woman using the word aroha in her business name. You can read about it here:

After reading through the outrage, I decided to do a little digging myself. I headed over to Whakiri, a directory of Māori-owned businesses. I only had time to look at Auckland, but the question quickly became obvious. What do these Māori-owned business names have in common?

The Box – CrossFit Waitakere

Trade Jobs NZ

Cover Up

Nexus Electrical Ltd

Trade Credit Customer Management Platform

Property Scouts Manukau

Collaboration House

One Fit Hire

Inside Out Cleaners

Critical

Brandistry

Native Media

Head Cases Hair Salon

Child Advocacy New Zealand

ITraffic

Arc Evolution Steel

Accurate Plasterboards

Rose Makeup and Beauty

Auckland Garden Services

I’ll make it easy for you. They are almost all English names.

These are Māori-owned businesses operating in New Zealand, yet there is hardly any te reo Māori being used in their branding at all. You can look for yourself at https://www.whariki.co.nz/whariki-directory-new and see how many te reo Māori business names jump out at you. It’s not many, if any.

So that raises an obvious question. If the use of Māori words in business names is so sacred, so protected, and apparently so offensive when used by the “wrong” people, why are Māori business owners themselves overwhelmingly choosing English names?

I looked even further, and something else stood out.

What do these Māori-owned businesses have in common?

Pizza Presto

Pici Pasta

House of de Loree

Coco’s Cantina

Sweet Azz Hawaiian BBQ

These businesses are borrowing words from other languages altogether. Italian. French. Spanish. Hawaiian. No outrage. No pile-ons. No accusations of cultural theft. No demands for koha or public apologies.

Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.