KIA KAHA TE REO MĀORI – TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI
14 – 20 Mahuru, 2020
Māori Language week has been celebrated each year from 1975.
Māori Language Day is September 14 and commemorates the presentation of the 1972 Māori language petition to parliament.
Mahuru Māori is an initiative begun in 2017 to promote the use of te reo Māori throughout the month of September.
Why a week? Why not a year? Why not a decade? A century?
Because New Zealand is revitalising the Māori language and a part of that is celebration of our success and promoting te reo Māori. Māori language week is an opportunity for concentrated celebration, promotion and encouragement. And every minute of every hour of every day is a Māori language minute – we can choose to use te reo – every time we do, even just a ‘Kia ora!’ contributes to revitalisation.
Te Wiki o te reo Māori is becoming a major fixture on the national calendar providing an opportunity for concentrated promotion, raising awareness and giving an opportunity for expert and advanced speakers to encourage others on their te reo Māori journey.
What can I do?
Mā tātou katoa te reo Māori e whakarauora:
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Everyone can contribute to te reo Māori revitalisation:
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Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori
The chosen theme for 2020 is again ‘Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’.
‘Kia Kaha’ is well understood in New Zealand English with its meaning of ‘be strong’. We often talk about languages as if they are people – talking about language health, strength and revitalisation. So when we say ‘Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’ we’re saying – ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong’.
Strength for an endangered language comes from its status, people being aware of how to support revitalisation, people acquiring and using it and from the language having the right words and terms to be used well for any purpose.
On this site you can find resources, ideas and reports about revitalisation and its increasing success.
It’s a part of the national promotion of te reo Māori undertaken by Crown agencies and coordinated by the Māori Language Commission as part of the Crown’s Māori language strategy, the Maihi Karauna. This strategy supports the revitalisation strategy of Māori and iwi, led by Te Mātāwai.
Te reo Maori is a taonga of Māori, guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi. But the Māori Language Act 2016 also makes clear it is for every New Zealander and a valued part of our national identity.
