Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa - New Zealand Warriors of the Sky
By W/O Wal Wallace
The RNZAF has a new Māori title, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa - New Zealand Warriors of the Sky. Chief of Defence Force Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott and the RNZAF leadership recently agreed on this title, as a name that reflects who we are. Warrant Officer Wal Wallace explains ...
Our new Māori name reflects the first line of the RNZAF haka, which asks the question, 'Who are we?' The response is, 'Ko Te Tauaarangi' - we are warriors of the sky, we are Air Force! It also aligns with the three Services and heralds an era of greater bicultural understanding. The Navy's Māori title is Te Taua Moana - Warriors of the sea. The Army has Ngati Tūmatauenga - Descendants of Tūmatauenga (god of war), and NZDF is Te Ope Katua o Aotearoa - New Zealand’s line of defence.
Air Force now stands at the doorway of what Māoridom refer to as Iwitanga - the coming of age of an Iwi (tribe). Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa is a reflection of the cultural growth that our small tight-knit Air Force whānau (family) has undergone over the last 10 years.
You may well wonder why there is no reference to the ‘Royal’ part of RNZAF. The simple answer is that Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa is not a direct translation for RNZAF, and it was never intended to be. A mere translation would only diminish the normally poetic nature of the language, making it sterile to the ears of Māori language speakers. Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa says in a very concise and linguistically poetic way exactly who we are and what we do. Therefore the ‘Royal’ reference is, in this context, unnecessary. This is not to suggest that it is in any way trivial, only that it is not required here and can be inferred by the reference to New Zealand (as a member of the Commonwealth).
What was wrong with the old Māori title - Te Hokowhitu o Kahurangi (War party of the Blue) - you might ask? Well, outside the RNZAF, it is no longer commonly used by Māori. Yes, it served us well for the last 12 years but, in effect, it had outlived its use.
Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa brings with it a greater depth of meaning and speaks volumes:
- It is sharp, smart and strong.
- It demonstrates a Māori ‘way of thinking’.
- It embraces the poetry of the Māori language.
- It is more identifiable within the broader Maori community.
- It aligns us more closely to the other two services and NZDF.
- It adds mana (prestige) to the RNZAF reputation in the eyes of the broader New Zealand community.
- It is a better reflection of who we are and what we do.
Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa will appear on the official RNZAF letterhead in due course. Templates, stationery stocks and business cards with the old letterhead, will be changed when current stock is exhausted.
Translation
Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa literally means New Zealand Warriors of the Sky.
Taua = warriors or war party
Rangi = Sky
Aotearoa = New Zealand
Te = The
a/o = of