| Abstract |
Māori (the Indigenous peoples of New Zealand), have many traditional terms for geothermal activity and environments. However, the development of geothermal science has resulted in the borrowing or coinage of English and international vocabulary into te reo Māori (the Māori language), to keep pace. Words and concepts have been cobbled together with literal translations for parts of words, often making no sense in te reo Māori. The Waiwhatu-Arawhata project has been an opportunity to create new kupu (words), that respect Mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge) and, in doing so, understand the practice of others. We listened to scientists explain useful technical concepts and then interpreted these through a Māori lens into a shared language, bringing Mātauranga Māori and western science into one space. As the project has matured, some words have moved beyond specific nouns, to adjectives and adverbs that refer to the nature or manifestations of those nouns. One of the first new kupu defined was the noun Waiwhatu, meaning geothermal fluid (wai – liquid; whatu - stone, core). Thus, waiwhatu means fluid from the core (heart of the Earth), not fresh water, but fluid woven through the inside of the Earth to the surface. More recently, the adjective for geothermal was defined as hanuwhatu (hanu – radiate heat; whatu – core) referring to anything relating to geothermal activity, its manifestations and the various sectors involved. In this paper and presentation, we share the process for developing, testing and sharing 18 new kupu, as well as our experiences and learnings. |