TangataWhenua.com is an indigenous,

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

-run and Māori-operated online news and information site based in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

New Zealand. The name comes from the phrase Tangata Whenua, "People of the Land".

History

The site's origins are with a fortnightly web-based newsletter called RANGIKAINGA, developed in 2002 by Potaua & Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule while students at

Waikato University , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , city ...

. The newsletter's content provided relevant news, information and events targeted at a predominantly Māori audience. At the time there were no Māori-focused newsletters of this type. At the end of the first year the company had a subscriber base of over 1400. The company was incorporated in 2003 and soon after the domain name TangataWhenua.com was officially registered. There are currently over 7000 subscribers. In 2005, RANGIKAINGA received a commendation from the

Human Rights Commission (New Zealand) The Human Rights Commission (Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet. Legislation and funct ...

for its positive contribution to race relations. In 2006, RANGIKAINGA received an

International Standard Serial Number An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...

(ISSN) by the

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

- Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, confirming its place as a periodic serial.

Digital projects

In 2007, TangataWhenua.com began facilitating Stage 2 the Google Maori Project, recruiting the help the Māori Language Commission and volunteers to complete the translation of the search interface launched on 23 July 2008, with two

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

staff members in attendance. The website is now one of New Zealand's most popular Māori news and information web portals. In early 2009, the company began developing digital communication strategies for Maori organisations, including web development projects for the Māori Party,

Mana Movement The Mana Movement, formerly known as the Mana Party, is a former political party in New Zealand. The party was led by Hone Harawira who formed it in April 2011 following his resignation from the Māori Party. Harawira won the by-election in Te T ...

, Te Arawa Group Holdings, Te Arawa River Iwi Trust, Tuhoe Waikaremoana Maori Trust Board—and the National Trust of the Fiji Islands. Later in the same year, TangataWhenua.com worked with, acclaimed Maori filmmaker, Merata Mita to market and promote the then titled film, The Volcano, by

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

to Maori audiences online. That movie was later renamed '' Boy'' and went on to become the #1

New Zealand film New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of all time. In 2011, the company put in a successful bid to Te Mangai Paho, the Maori Broadcasting Funding Agency, for their inaugural Digital Innovation Fund, to design a news reader app for the iPhone. It will be the first ever app developed of this type for a Maori-owned company.

Editorial stance

On domestic matters it is pro-Māori, supporting

tino rangatiratanga ' is a Māori language term that translates literally to 'highest chieftainship' or 'unqualified chieftainship', but is also translated as "self-determination", "sovereignty" and "absolute sovereignty". The very translation of is important to ...

, indigenous self-determination and development. In the past it has strongly disapproved of mainstream media coverage of Māori issues including the

New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These c ...

and the

2007 New Zealand anti-terror raids The 2007 New Zealand police raids were a series of armed police raids conducted on 15 and 16 October 2007, in response to alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki. About 300 police, including m ...

on Tuhoe.

References

Sources

:
Tu Mai
(March, 2006). "Technopreneurs, a sign of the times". Tu Mai Publishers, Auckland.

External links

TangataWhenua.com

DigitalMaori.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tangatawhenua.Com New Zealand news websites Māori organisations Race relations in New Zealand Internet properties established in 2003 Māori mass media