Te Ao Māori News reporters don’t really have a leaderboard when it comes to whose article got how many reads - but that doesn’t mean we don’t notice the articles you kept coming back to.
As 2024 draws to close, we want to revisit the stories you couldn’t get enough of.
Today, we look back at the 10 most read articles on teaonews.co.nz for the year.
New World’s closing store call in Māori caught on video goes viral
By Natasha Hill
To start off the list is the boy from Ōpōtiki who told all customers at New World the store was closing in te reo Māori.
The video was posted to the New World TikTok page which saw it blow up with a lot of people showing aroha to the employee.
The owner of the Ōpōtiki store, Dan Rolls, said it was inspiring for his employees to feel confident in their reo.
“We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and diverse workplace, which is why it is so awesome that there is a positive response to the video.”
Jenny-May Clarkson reveals moko kauae
Breakfast Host, Jenny-May Clarkson (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahu) received her moko kauae in April, revealing it on Instagram for her fans to see.
“I just closed my eyes and pictured my grandmother’s face. Her soft eyes, her round face, that twinkle in her eye. I wondered how proud she would be,” she told 1News.
The television presenter and former Silver Ferns netballer told 1News some doubts crept in the next morning about the reactions she might receive but she eventually woke feeling peaceful.
“Everybody is on their own journey and I understand if perhaps some members of our audience find it abrasive. But this is still me. I just choose to wear who I am now.”
‘It’s engrained and entrenched snobbery’: why Māori don’t want to live on Māori land
In March, Property investment coach Inez White (Te Arawa) said negative rhetoric passed on by previous generations has deterred whānau from living on Māori land, papakāinga or in small rural communities.
“We have been taught somewhere through our family lines not to value our land.
“Our families don’t want to live in our neighbourhoods, you know the Māori neighbourhoods. The ones that are right next to our papakāinga. They aspire to live in the middle-class neighbourhoods, and that’s ingrained and entrenched snobbery and we are just not acknowledging it anymore. Time and time again there are affordable places to live and we are just turning our noses up at them.”
White voiced her opinion on her personal Facebook page, motivated by her desire to encourage whānau to stop renting Māori land. She asserts that colonisation and oppression need to be considered when it comes to the reasons why Māori families are not engaging in property and land acquisition.
Haka controversy: East Coast rugby supporters warned not to haka with team
Controversy started brewing in October after the only iwi team in the Heartland Championship said it was told by rugby authorities its supporters were banned from joining in their pre-game haka.
Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union CEO Leroy Kururangi took to social media to highlight the issue and ask whānau to refrain from taking part in the haka.
“As the only iwi team in the competition, we take immense pride in our haka.
“It’s not just a pregame ritual; it connects us to our whakapapa, our history, our whenua, and our supporters,” Kururangi said on Instagram.
If they didn’t fall in line, Kururangi said the team had been warned it faces potential punishment, including possible exclusion from the competition.
“This means that tamariki, rangatahi, or any person other than the 23 players will not be allowed to enter the field of play and participate in the pre-match haka.”
Haka erupts in Parliament before Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading
By Daniel Perese and Natasha Hill
A month later, another haka made headlines - this time in Parliament’s debating chamber, where Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke led the opening of ‘Ka Mate.’
This came after the chamber went through the first reading of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill introduced by Act Party leader David Seymour.
MPs from the opposition and members of the public in the gallery stood up in support with some even participating.
This did temporarily place a pause on the first reading but only for an hour.
The haka went viral all around the world with the Whakaata Māori’s Tiktok video receiving over 447 million views.
Professor’s unique ‘shout out’ to the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti
During the middle of the hīkoi, Associate Professor Alison Griffith, head of Department of Classics at the University of Canterbury, shared she was teaching her students Roman society through a Māori lens.
“There’s a point in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, where there’s so much tension that this mass of Romans withdraws from Roman society to one particular hill.
“When they do that, boy, does that get everybody else’s attention.”
Like the hīkoi, the Roman masses set about getting their message across loud and clear, she says.
“It’s using the collective force of people to make a really important political point.
“I’ve been reflecting on that aspect of the hīkoi all week,” she told Te Ao Māori News in November.
‘Māori women and women of colour will be targeted’ in Foodstuffs’ facial recognition trial - Māori tech expert
Many concerns were raised earlier in the year when Foodstuffs attempted to keep staff and customers safe using facial recognition.
Dr Karaitiana Taiuru, a Māori tech ethicist, warned about the technology’s risk to people of colour in particular women.
“Māori women are going to be more targeted both in risks to bias and risk to misidentification and also their personal data.
“Primarily the biggest harm will be to any indigenous people and people of colour simply because the system is not designed or trained on their faces.
“It’s likely to misinterpret or misidentify an individual. That will in turn lead to people who are innocent being accused of being a shoplifter or being accused of being someone else.”
Later in April a Māori mother was misidentified by the technology and trespassed from a New World store in Rotorua.
Māori presenter’s moko painted without permission, again
By Isaac Gunson
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Earlier in the year, many eyes were on a painting of ex-Newshub presenter, Oriini Kaipara, but not for the right reasons.
A person had painted a picture of her liking without permission ... for the second time.
Kaipara had put the artist, Warren Thomas on blast, saying he’s, “been in Aotearoa five minutes,” and that he’s “already assumed it’s okay to take a complete stranger’s face and make money off it.”
Even if he had asked permission, Kaipara firmly stated: “The answer is NO.”
The painting was posted on ArtworkCity but was taken down after a few people complained.
South Auckland’s first social supermarket opens in Māngere
By Daniel Perese and Aaron Ryan
South Auckland residents saw the doors open at their first social supermarket in the area in April, which was opened with the help of Foodstuffs North Island and Māngere Budgeting Services Trust.
The store is called Tātou, translating to “everyone” in te reo Māori, Samoan and Tokelauan.
Foodstuffs North Island social supermarkets head Willa Hand told Te Ao Māori News Tātou would help the community through the cost-of-living crisis.
“We’re in this for the long haul. We set these up to be long-standing relationships with community partners,” she said.
Dates and venues revealed for kapa haka regionals in lead up to Te Matatini
By Jess Tyson
At the start of the year, many eagerly awaiting Te Matatini 2025, couldn’t wait to learn the dates for regional competitions across Australasia.
Te Matatini chairperson, Sir Selwyn Parata, said the 12 regional competitions were major events on the kapa haka calendar, bringing together talented performers who will represent their iwi by sharing their stories and traditions.
“Our regionals are a crucial precursor to the highly anticipated Te Matatini national festival. It’s where the passion, dedication, and innovation begin to create unforgettable performances that connect with audiences.”
More stories you loved
Even though this is a top 10 list, we still want to acknowledge the kaupapa that were just shy of making it.
During Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, The Warehouse partnered with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori to create merchandise, which an Auckland manager reported sold out in just 15 minutes at his store.
In June, four artists' taonga made from paraoa (whalebone) were barred from entering Hawai‘i for the Festival of the Pacific Arts. Instead, photos of the taonga were displayed with a sign above them reading, “Permit declined.”
On Waitangi Day, Tame Iti told Te Ao Māori News that engagement with others is key to presenting a united front on Māori beliefs and opinions. He also encouraged Māori to “be more creative.”
In the coalition government’s first budget, Labour’s first-year fees-free scheme was shifted to cover the final year instead. Lecturer Hemi Dale, initially concerned it might be cut, was relieved to see it retained.
Te Ao with Moana interviewed many well-known figures, but few stories captured the audience’s attention like All Black legend Zinzan Brooke’s potential return to Aotearoa after decades in the UK.
