August 05, 2022
Hawaiki brand hits translation snag
Former Ngāti Kahungunu chair Ngahiwi Tomoana is having to rethink his Hawaiki brand after talks with Pacific Island leaders.
Despite losing his last election, the Iwi Chairs Forum asked Mr Tomoana to stay on as a sort of international trade and cultural ambassador.
He’s just back from Samoa, where he supported the Prime Minister during celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, and he was also recently in Rarotonga.
He says his idea for a brand to promote fish and farm products from the region hit a snag.
“That Hawaiki brand is still alive and well but to a lot of the Pacific, it means death. You mention it and they drop to their knees, so we’ve got to find another term that’s relevant and not so scary, not so tapu,” Mr Tomoana says.