He rerekē tēnei, i tēnā — Each has its own uniqueness — Anaru and Te Mako

Anaru:

E ngā waka o ngā hau e whā, tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki tēnei pāhōrangi o Tātai Aho Rau.
Ko wai au
Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Waitara te awa
Ko Kairau te marae
Ko Te Atiawa te iwi
Ko Anaru White tōku ingoa
He kaitakawaenga au i te rōpū o Tātai Aho Rau arā CORE Education.
Kia ora e hoa, kei a koe te wā

Te Mako

Tēnā koe e hoa, otirā, koutou e are tāringa mai ana ki a māua
Ko wai tēnei e whakapāoho atu nei?
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Tararua ngā paemaunga
Ko Ngāti Wehiwehi te marae
Ko Ngāti Wehiwehi te whānau hūmarie
Ko Ngāti Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga te iwi
Ko Te Mako Orzecki tōku ingoa

Anaru:

Kia ora e hoa, kia ora koutou
Te Mako, we are going to share some experiences about our names and learning te reo Māori. Firstly, I wonder if I could invite you to tell us about the origins of your name.

Te Mako

Kia ora, Anaru. Obviously, I have two unique names and I’d like to start with my surname first. The name Orzecki originates from Poland on my father’s side. He first came to New Zealand in the early 50’s after spending most of his time in the merchant navy. He met my mother and married her, and my siblings and I  then came along. Our original family name is Orzangski, which eventually became Orzecki. Orzangski came from a place in our history where one of our ancestors had performed a noble deed and was given the title of ‘ski’ on the end of their name. The female equivalent would be given the title ‘ska’ — so Orzangski for male and Orzangska for females. The thing to gain from this is that if you meet a Polish person with the ski name on the end, it tells you that somewhere in their history an ancestor had performed a noble deed.

The name Te Mako is not a name I was born with, but a name that was given to me by my relation in agreement with my parents some 30 years ago. Its whakapapa can be traced from an ancestor on my mother’s/grandmother’s side, and my paternal grandfather. So there are female and male elements to its origins. Most people look at it in terms of the translation being ‘The Shark’, but I prefer the explanation given to me by Dr Turuki Rangimarie Rose Pere many years ago. She said ‘the Mā’ in my name means clean or pure and the name ‘Ko’ is an ancient name (one of many) given to ‘Tāne’, and translated in her words, my name means Tāne the Pure.

Anaru:

That’s interesting because I know about the Polish link but I never asked you about your first name.

For me and our listeners this is about knowing your learners and I’m thinking about teachers in classrooms but also anybody — do you ask them the meaning behind their name, or do you ask their whānau to share this story?  Valuing the importance of their ancestors, the importance of identity, language and culture — Thinking about the pronunciation of your name Te Mako, how have you found the pronunciation of your name over the years?

Te Mako

I have heard many variations of my name spoken over the years that have ranged from me smiling, and going with it, to me having to correct them, no matter who was there. Generally if I hear it mispronounced these days I will correct the person first off and hopefully, they pronounce it correctly. I have also said to either call me ‘T’ or ‘TM’ but I think it’s really a cop out on my part and they should be calling me Te Mako rather than ‘T’ or ‘TM’.

Anaru:

Building on that my next question was around your thoughts on the correct pronunciation of names?

Te Mako

Names are precious so it is really important that people pronounce names correctly or at the least take time to learn a name — you may be surprised with it’s origin.

Anaru:

Finally, Te Mako, for our listeners, what are some good strategies or tips to help improve pronunciation?

Te Mako

Anaru:

I totally agree.
Nō reira e hoa. Nei rā te mihi ki a koe, ōtira ki a koutou. Kia ora rā.

Te Mako

Kia ora.