Basically there are 4 steps:
Rename old table
Create new table
with partitioning
Add constraint on old table for it's proposed partition ranges
Attach old table as a partition to new partition table
Sounds easy right?
What about indexes? What about Triggers?
And guess what, there are other traps to watch out for!
NLS_LANG cannot be changed by ALTER SESSION, NLS_LANGUAGE and NLS_TERRITORY can. However NLS_LANGUAGE and /or NLS_TERRITORY cannot be set as "standalone" parameters in the environment or registry on the client.
Evidently the "right" solution is, before logging into Oracle at all, setting the following environment variable:
export NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.UTF8