Additional reporting from Ngahuia Wade
The BSA says two Maori phrases, 'Pokokohua' (boiled head) and 'Kai a te Kuri' (dogfood), may be offensive if broadcast but the Maori Language Commission disagrees.
However, no complaints have ever been made about these two phrases to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA), to Whaakata Māori, or to the language commission.
So the question is: Why are they on the list of 31 words that the public may find offensive published by the BSA?
The Language Commission is the government's language watchdog.
Commission chair Rāwinia Higgins says, “Kaare ano ena whakapae kia tae mai ki a mātou o te Taura Whiri I Te Reo kaare anō tetahi kia amuamu mai mo te whiu i aua kōrero”
“No complaints have been received by Te Taura Whiri, no one has complained about the usage,” she says.
No complaints
Maori TV has never received any complaints about these phrases either, content director Maramena Roderick confirmed.
The BSA says no viewer has ever complained about either phrase and no decision has been made by it on these phrases.
The language commission's chief executive, Ngahiwi Apanui, questions why these Māori phrases have been included.
“E whakaaro ana ahau he aha ngā tikanga e whakamahia ana e rātou. Tuarua, mena i āta rangahau rātou i te hunga kōrero Māori”
“I'm wondering what processes they followed in the first place. Secondly, who were the language speakers who filled in the survey?” he said.
Higgins says context is what's important in language use.
'Not offensive - normal'
No hea i ahu mai i hea aua kupu?. He whiuwhiu kōrero nā etahi, ā, ka tāpiri ki tetahi rārangi kupu. No reira, me te āta whakaaro he aha te horopaki o te whiu o aua kōrero
"Where do these phrases come from? Someone uses strong phraseology and then it's on a list of offensive words? Context is everything."
The BSA says the phrases were included in the authority's survey after consultation with the Maori Language Commission in 2018.
The language commission doesn't recall that and Apanui says these words are not offensive but normal.
“Engari ko te kai a te kurī he āhuatanga tērā e rongo ai au i a au e tamariki ana, pōkokōhua ki te riri taku tipuna ki a ahau, pōkokōhua kaati tera mahi. Ehara i te aha, nē?”
"'Kai a te kuri' is something I've heard since childhood. 'Pokokōhua' is what my grandmother would say to me 'pokokōhua stop doing that' - it's nothing really, aye?”
