with Dr Karaitiana Taiuru
Commentary and free digital resources that promote and normalise the Māori language including spell checkers, dictionaries and mew terminology.
Google Translate is another example of AI, Algorithms and Machine Learning discriminating against minorities, while misrepresenting the Maori language and customs . Google Translate interprets te reo Maori more accurately as it learns and is supporting the revival of te reo Māori. While it had the expertise of Dr Te Taka Keegan in its development, … Read more
The word Pākehā is a controversial word for some people. Some Māori and non Māori claim that the word Pākehā is offensive. Others have attempted to explain the word based on their own understandings and sometimes own hapū and whānau interpretations. Introduction This article provides an holistic analysis based on research from the early 18th … Read more
This brief article looks at the idea that the Māori language will be colonised if used in speech recognition, machine learning, AI and other linguist technologies. This article makes the argument that the Māori language can not be colonised and that by making such statements will only hinder Māori Peoples and wellbeing. As technology is … Read more
These high level guidelines have been written by Karaitiana Taiuru who has been involved with Māori Cultural rights, Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge and assisting brands both in New Zealand and internationally for over 25 years. Last updated January 10 2021. The motivation to write this document is to provide an introduction to Māori cultural appropriation … Read more
Another embarrassing lesson for the ICT and Digital industry when working with the New Zealand government. If you don’t consider Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti with digital projects you could unintentionally discriminate against Māori, Treaty and in this case legislation that protects and enhances the Māori Language. The New Zealand Covid app provided by the Ministry … Read more
Māori have an unique opportunity to gain substantial social, economic and educational advantages with 5G spectrum now that the government has allocated Māori a slice. The biggest risk is the lack of consultation with the handful of treaty claimants who it appears to be making the same mistake again as occurred with 3G spectrum allocation … Read more
Cultural appropriation of taonga Māori online is continually increasing despite the backlash on social media and in the media (mainstream and Māori). Just recently one art shop in Nelson who continued to offer offensive culturally appropriated art, despite apologising to the local Iwi, was forced to shut down. This post provides a number of suggestions … Read more
This article is for Whānau, Māori: students, teachers and academics. The same principles can be applied to working remotely online. I have recently heard it stated that online learning is not tika, it is not right and that it is not our tikanga as our tikanga is kanohi ki kanohi, face to face. This article … Read more
This article is about karakia in post-colonial New Zealand and introduced religious influences that have changed Māori cultural beliefs and practices. This is not an article about religions and what religion is the more appropriate. Every person has a right to practice their own religious beliefs without hurting others or being hurt because of their … Read more
The complete paper in a pdf format can be downloaded here. An introduction, explanation and indigenising of current day natural phenomena radio technologies that are used for technologies such as 3G, 4G and 5G for mobile phones and indigenises modern day smart phones. Then, the paper compares pre colonial communications and traditional knowledge to explain … Read more
A Law Foundation-funded report Digital Threats to Democracy, one of the most in-depth reports published locally to date on the negative side effects accompanying the rise of digital media. The report also considers Māori and Indigenous democratic issues. Again, the first time this has occurred. I have extracted key Māori views from the report which … Read more
Be aware of Spam being circulated using Te Reo Māori and another language. Below is a screen shot of the latest te reo Māori spam I received. While this is not very sophisticated, it very quickly and easily could be made to look legit and from someone you know. Unfortunately there are no services to … Read more
Voice recognition of te Reo Māori and automated Maori translations via a computational device is colonisation and commercialisation no matter if by Māori or by tauiwi. Our traditional stories warn us of such recordings of the voice. Hence, I believe the reason why our learned old people shied away from recordings of the person and … Read more
After writing my story about Huggies New Zealand (owned by international company Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and their incorrect and offensive baby names advise on their web site, I contacted Radio Waatea who very professionally and neutrally interviewed me on the topic on March 08 . I too was cautious with my wording on this very serious matter. … Read more
HuggiesNZ a trusted brand for new parents is an example of a corporation discriminating against Māori with little or no disregard to the long term implications for individuals, cultures and laws. Their advice, if followed, could cause irreversible damage to children and parents. Huggies respond here. Prior to December 29 2008, or over 10 years prior to … Read more
The early years of .nz Internet domain names saw Māori and Iwi marginalized and ignored, Māori domain names held to ransom and Iwi dictated to about their online representation. This is important to remember as a domain name is the digital equivalent of a pepeha, tā moko or whakapapa for online Māori. The consequence of … Read more
Te Re Māori is an official language of New Zealand. It is the Indigenous language of New Zealand/Aotearoa. The use of Latin as a place holder, while an international practice, there is no reason why any Indigenous Peoples can not and should not promote their own identity with their own language. Use of te reo … Read more
A presentation given to the BSidesWLG 2017 conference on Māori cultural ethical considerations in Information Security (infosec). The point of the presentation was to very broadly and at a high level touch on private and government infosec communities to raise awareness of tikanga Māori issues. The presentation is available here. BSidesWLG is a diverse and inclusive information … Read more