Called racist by some, Rotorua’s te reo Māori-only cafe opens. With an English-speaking lobby
Rumaki Cafe in Rotorua is owned by the Rūmaki Trust, a charitable trust focused on supporting te reo Māori.
After months of attention (and backlash), Rumaki Cafe is finally serving customers and testing whether the controversy matched the reality.
Rotorua’s much-discussed te reo Māori immersion cafe is now open, and the first thing some customers may encounter is English.
Rumaki Cafe, which opened a few days back, attracted national attention before launch for its full-immersion concept, under which te reo Māori would be the only language used inside the cafe.
Its executive director, Miraka Davies, had previously made clear how strictly the idea would operate, saying even customers taking a phone call in English would be expected to step outside.
But the cafe’s opening has revealed a more accommodating setup for people who do not speak te reo Māori.
Customers are first met in an English-speaking lobby, where staff explain how the cafe works and what support they may need before entering the immersion space, NZ Herald reported today.
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QR codes are also available to help visitors translate phrases and hear pronunciations. Davies told Herald fluent speakers, learners and people who were simply curious were all welcome.
“We’ve got games...you’re welcome to sit quietly...read a book...or one of us will sit with you and teach you...”
Rumaki remains a te reo Māori immersion environment, but “no English” does not mean English speakers are barred from entering or refused service.
Davies says some of the criticism before opening had stemmed from people believing exactly that. “We’re not refusing anyone’s service...and if we were, it wouldn’t be based on race.”
The cafe had been labelled “racist” by some critics before it opened, while Davies said others had misunderstood its purpose. The backlash also went beyond online comments.
Davies told Herald that people had turned up at the cafe and at her home, while photos and information about their home area were circulated online.
“It got serious,” she said. Police reportedly became involved. But the recent opening has been markedly different.
Davies said the cafe had attracted everyone from te reo learners to visitors from Japan, Spain and South Africa, while local Māori had been able to enter a space where their language, humour and tikanga were understood.
Rumaki was created after Davies found there were relatively few places where she could use te reo Māori naturally outside classes and organised events.
She said the intention is not exclusion, but immersion by creating an environment where te reo Maori is the default language of exchange.
The cafe is the project of a charity, Rumaki Trust Board, established in July 2023. The New Zealand's charity register describes the organisation as focussed on kaupapa Maori, and focusses on outcomes for Maori and ownership.
It's main charitable purpose is described as advancing education specifically in te reo Maori, and to benefit the community by undertaking related charitable efforts.
These include creating safe and functional spaces for all be immersed in and use te reo Maori, and providing "ongoing reo education to learners of te reo Maori who are employed, or who who take up work placements, to carry out the operational activities of Rumaki".
The cafe operates seven days a week, from 7am to 9pm, functioning as a cafe during the day and a restaurant in the evening. It is owned by the Rūmaki Trust, a charitable trust focused on supporting te reo Māori.
Davies has also rejected claims that the venture was government or taxpayer-funded, saying it had been established through grants, donations and a bank loan, with the aim of becoming self-sustaining.
For Davies, the opening appears to have delivered what she wanted most. A place where te reo Māori is not an exercise or an event, but part of ordinary daily life.
“It’s that dream of having a place where I can just speak te reo all the time and hear te reo all the time, and I can get better at it all the time,” she told Herald.
