Local Produce: Adelaide Cara

Posted 4:04pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Sean Gourley

Adelaide Cara is an Ōtepoti musician who recently recorded their debut album ‘How Does This Sound?’ The album is nostalgic and dreamy, perfect to listen to while you drive around at night, with haunting vocals. Thankfully they released it on cassette tape, so even my very old car Read more...

When Worlds Collide: Overcoming Technological Hurdles to Te Reo

Posted 3:57pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Elliot Weir

The digital world can provide a place for te reo Māori to thrive, but a number of technological hurdles stand in the way. One of the largest problems is with autocorrect and spell check.  Students found it annoying when te reo words autocorrected to English words. Other times, kupu have Read more...

“What percentage are you?”

Posted 3:47pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

Why the colonial concept of blood quantum doesn’t define indigenous people  By Annabelle Vaughan People sometimes ask weird questions, that’s how life is. However, for many Māori here in Aotearoa, or any indigenous person, a common question we often receive is “so Read more...

Iwi Dialects: Because Te Reo Isn’t the Same Everywhere

Posted 3:34pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Students of Te Roopū Māori

Growing up in Aotearoa, chances are you’ve learned a bit of te reo here and there. While you might think there is a one-size-fits all approach, that’s not the case. All across Aotearoa, different iwi in different regions each have their own individual dialects of te reo. Listed below are Read more...

A Brief History of Ngāi Tahu: Things you should probably know about the land you’re on

Posted 3:21pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

If you’ve come to study at Otago University from up North, picked fruit in the sweltering heat of Central Otago, gone skiing on the slopes in Wānaka, or gone stargazing at Lake Tekapo, it’s important for you to know about Ngāi Tahu. Ngāi Tahu, also known as Kāi Tahu, Read more...

How Pākehā can better honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Posted 3:10pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Tessa Dalgety-Evans

CW: Racism, colonisation, discussion of Pākehā dominance  Definitions Pākehā: English, foreign, European. Despite the claims of some non-Māori speakers, the term does not normally have negative connotations. Tauiwi: foreigner, European, non-Māori, Read more...

Kūmara: How One Word Crossed the Pacific

Posted 3:02pm Sunday 12th September 2021 by Karamea Pēwhairangi, Te Āwhina Pounamu Waikaramihi, and Fox Meyer

About 1,000 years ago, a Polynesian navigator made a historic trade. Goods from the Pacific were exchanged for a stubby, brownish root vegetable from the foothills of Peru. There, on a presumably sunny day on the South American coast, kūmara was introduced to Polynesia. It’s called Read more...

Te Reo Māori: Tōku Hononga Ki Te Whaiao, Ki Te Ao Marama

Posted 1:43am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Madison Chambers-Coll

Kei āku whetū, kei āku manu taki, kei āku hunga tiaki, ko koutou ngā pou, ngā kaitohutohu o tōku ao. Kei āku toka tū i te moana, tē mutu te aroha i a koutou rā. Nei rā āku mihi. Ko te reo Māori, koinei te reo e Read more...

The Epidemic of Virus Video Games

Posted 1:38am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Asia Martusia King

Video games are a lovely form of escapism. You can forget about the worldwide pandemic and disappear into a virtual world for a few hours, before waking up pizza-stained and bleary-eyed in your mum’s basement again. It’s an odd phenomenon, in that sense, to see how pandemic-themed Read more...

Fonterra-funded Science Says “Our Byproducts Probably Won’t Give You Cancer”

Posted 1:33am Saturday 11th September 2021 by Fox Meyer

Two Otago scientists have criticised the optimistic results of a nitrates study co-funded by Fonterra and MBIE. The original study concluded that it is “highly unlikely” that the presence of nitrate contaminants could increase your risk of cancer. Nitrates have been linked to cancer Read more...