Reo

“I had a lot of ideas. But every time I tried to turn them into a sentence in te reo, it amounted to: ‘Māori good. Colonisation bad. Matua smart. Me dumb.’ And also: ‘Me tired. Want nap.’” — Siena Yates.

Forever learning

by Cornell Tukiri

“When you haven’t been exposed to te ao Māori during your upbringing, you’re making up for lost time as you get older. Listening, learning, and asking questions. For us as a whānau, it’s been a journey — and we know it’s one that will never end.” — Cornell Tukiri.

Modern mōteatea

by Hana O'Regan

"Mōteatea were the storehouses of tribal and whānau memory and aspiration, drawn upon to nourish and feed the current and new generations, whilst ensuring they were equipped with the essential knowledge to help them navigate, understand, and explore their world." — Dr Hana O'Regan.

Want to support te reo Māori? Learn about colonisation

by Awanui Te Huia

“The notion that Māori are responsible for our own language decline is a convenient argument. It absolves the Crown of its responsibilities to make right its many wrongs.” — Awanui Te Huia.

Stacey Morrison: Our reo still needs all hands on deck

by Stacey Morrison

“What inspires us to keep going, to revitalise te reo Māori in our homes and whānau, is a deeply personal intention, making us understandably sensitive about our struggle to learn the language that should have been our birthright.” — Stacey Morrison.

How we save our Pacific languages

by Teuila Fuatai

“The English were willing to borrow and absorb. When they saw a word that they needed, they took it and made it their own. They even took Polynesian words, like tapu (taboo) and tatau (tattoo).” — Sefita Hao‘uli, Tongan language advocate.

Reworking a classic waiata for healing and hope

“She wrote that mamae and those fears into her song, so others who could relate might find some comfort in it.” — Siena Yates on Whirimako Black’s classic waiata 'Kei hea taku reo?'

We lose our languages, we lose who we are

by Ngahiwi Apanui

“Our Pacific Blue Continent is not just bound by ocean. It’s also bound by our languages.” — Ngahiwi Apanui, chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

‘You can’t speak what you can’t hear’

by Dion Enari & Sierra Keung

“It wasn’t very long ago that Indigenous athletes would only speak English during interviews. So the fact they will now use their star status to raise awareness of their culture and language is a sign of progress.” — Dion Enari & Sierra Keunga.

Embrace the whakamā, embrace the mamae

“The reo journey is hard and confronting, and a lot of the time you just have to push through. There’s no skirting around it, especially if you’re Māori and carrying the language trauma that many of us do.” — Siena Yates.

Siena Yates: I finally feel the connection

“For the first time in my life, I feel whole. I feel spiritually well. I feel Māori. And not because I can have a short conversation in the reo, but because I finally feel the connection.” — Siena Yates.

Learning from legends

“The kura reo is specifically designed to challenge you, to push your limits and demolish any concept of a comfort zone. But it’s done in a way that is manageable for you, and with aroha.” — Siena Yates.

Melanesians in Aotearoa — a minority within a minority

by Leina Isno

“The development of the Pacific Languages Strategy is an example of how, too often, Polynesian countries and cultures are often taken as representing all of the Pacific population.” — Leina Isno.

Te wero nui o te Wiki o te Reo Māori

“Every time I went to any Pākehā space, my reo disappeared.” — Siena Yates, on challenging herself to speak only Māori during Māori Language Week.

Tokenism and te reo Māori: Why some things just shouldn’t be translated

by Carl Mika

“From a Māori perspective of the interconnectedness of things, there is a particularly isolating, divisive tendency in English, which diminishes full Māori meanings.” — Professor Carl Mika.

If you’re listening, you’re learning

by Ramari Jackson-Paniora, Connie Buchanan

“Sometimes, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Sometimes, it’s unbearably hard and you want to quit.” — Siena Yates.

My mum, my mountain: Hana Te Hemara

“Mum was an articulate, visionary, and fearless woman. She was the biggest driver of the petition for reo Māori to be included in the school curriculum . . . She did all that organising from her kitchen table.” — Ramari Jackson.

The right words to say

“I sometimes find myself on the speakers’ paepae at a formal hui. It’s always a daunting thing. Never to be taken for granted. Always to be reflected on.” — Tainui Stephens.

Ensuring access to te ao Māori

by Āwhina Kihi

“We’re here to pass on our mātauranga Māori, and to lift each other up.” — Āwhina Kihi.

When the reo settles into your heart

“Once you’ve started to kōrero Māori with your kurī, there’s no going back.” — Siena Yates.

I’m not plastic — I’m Sāmoan

by Lefaoali’i Dion Enari

“It made the racism that came with being Sāmoan in Australia even harder to deal with. On one hand, I didn’t cut it as a real Sāmoan. On the other, I was being stereotyped as dumb and a troublemaker.“ — Lefaoali’i Dion Enari.

Can they cope with ‘more than the odd kia ora’?

by Awanui Te Huia

“Being exposed to te reo in our everyday environments, including on our news channels, benefits both speakers and non-speakers of the language.” — Awanui Te Huia.

Taking care of our kupu

by Tame Malcolm

“The word kaitiaki is everywhere in mainstream Aotearoa these days. We often see it used to describe a person who takes cares of others, or to describe someone who takes care of taonga and items of value.” — Tame Malcolm.

A space to breathe

“The full-time, full-immersion learning environment gives us a space where we don’t have to try so hard to be in te ao Māori.” — Siena Yates.

We don’t see te reo as ‘Māori nonsense’

by Rawinia Higgins

“Te reo Māori is endangered in the land it comes from. It is a language that is native to this country and like an endangered bird, its future depends on what we do.” — Professor Rawinia Higgins.

Finding my real voice

“I’d finally joined an environment where I didn’t have to use my Pākehā voice for the first time in my life.” — Siena Yates.

Waikaremoana Waitoki: Don’t let your mana be trampled

by Te Rawhitiroa Bosch

“I'm well if my family is well, and my family is well if I'm well. Also, as a people, we are all well if the land is well.” — Dr Waikaremoana Waitoki, clinical psychologist.

Embrace the taniwha

“I vowed that I wouldn’t allow myself to be shamed by my ignorance again. As I think back to that long ago hui, part of me realises that all I had to do was get over myself.” — Tainui Stephens.

The role of Pākehā is to support

by Andrew Robb

“It’s right that Pākehā should speak Māori, and Pākehā engagement is important to the revitalisation of te reo Māori. . . . But, as a people, we must wait our turn.” — Andrew Robb.

For the love of the language

by Hinewehi Mohi

"I believe that the music will continue to help us heal, so we can celebrate the new cultural narrative of Aotearoa, and be proud of the diverse cultural heritage we all share." — Hinewehi Mohi.

The shame is gone

by Shelley Burne-Field

“With the help of caring people, through a lens now tinted with aroha, I could embrace the experience of speaking re reo Māori and let it melt my heart.” — Shelley Burne-Field.

Privilege and language trauma

by Vini Olsen-Reeder

“As the dust settles following Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, I feel like I’ve been through all the stages of grief. I’m unsure what part I play now.” — Vini Olsen-Reeder.

Solar power and forgiveness

by Anton Blank

“In the digital age, it’s naïve to think that we can control the use and growth of te reo — which I believe is a positive thing. The language is flourishing, and I, for one, embrace the change with gay abandon.” — Anton Blank.

We must be brave and use the reo

by Te Rawhitiroa Bosch

“Everything I say in the courtroom now is said in te reo Māori. All of my submissions, every written document.” — Alana Thomas.

My complicated relationship with te reo Māori

by Moata Tamaira

“At the age of five, I was already consciously distancing myself from the Māori world. I already knew that to be Māori was to be less than. The same way that my son knows that pink is not an acceptable colour for boys to like.” — Moata Tamaira.

The making of a Māori town: Ōtaki

“There is an indigenous spirit in Ōtaki that is unapologetic and proud. By definition that spirit is also loving.” — Tainui Stephens.

A commitment to younger voices

by Quinton Hita

“I can’t watch the show without cringing at the risque subject matter. Auē. But if they made the show based on my sensibilities, there would be ZERO rangatahi watching it.” — Quinton Hita on the bilingual drama series Ahikāroa.

Calling in on The Godfather

by Moana Maniapoto

“I sometimes get: ‘Kei te takahi koe i taku mana’ — you’re trampling on my mana. And I think to myself: ‘Well, you're murdering my language. Which one is it going to be? Murdering my language or your mana?’" — Tīmoti Kāretu.

Alison Jones: When Pākeha acquire te reo

by Alison Jones

“I worry that te reo, like land, may be in the process of becoming yet another thing that Pākehā can acquire from Māori, like a unique new jacket that we think suits us.” — Professor Alison Jones.

This doesn’t make us less

by Shelley Burne-Field

“We can be Māori and reo-less at the same time. It’s not ideal — especially in the hidden places we never talk about — but we can keep our heads held high. This doesn’t make us less.” — Shelley Burne-Field.

Reclaiming what was lost

by Cornell Tukiri

“That bridge tragedy in 1947 severed my links to my taha Māori. And only now, in my early 40s, am I reclaiming what was lost.” — Cornell Tukiri.

No longer scared to speak my language

“It’s only in recent years that I’ve even plucked up the courage to claim my identity, to proudly say: Yes, I am Māori.” — Siena Yates.

Keeping Māori storytelling alive

“Ours is an oral tradition and that's important because it's not only how we share stories but how we transfer and transmit knowledge.” — Lee Timutimu.

A whānau affair

“We have almost four generations of te reo Māori speakers in our family. My goal in life before I leave this earth is that those teachings will funnel down to the next three generations after my children.” — Eli Smith.

Reflecting the reo world

“Their decision to be a reo Māori-speaking household instantly cut off friends and whānau who either didn't agree with their decision or found it too challenging to communicate solely in te reo.”

Fish and chips and a serving of te reo

“It really didn't sit well with me that, outside our home, my kids would feel like they’d have to leave that part of themselves at the door and be somebody else. To put on a mask.” — Anton Matthews.

To be Māori requires action

“For parents on our own language journeys, we need to bring our children along for the ride.” — Tainui Stephens.

Pay attention to those who go before

“I would seek out kaumātua who were knowledgeable about the Māori world. I’d sit and listen to their words, try and remember them, and write them down afterwards.” — Tainui Stephens.

A yearning for the reo

“I think had I stayed in Australia, I wouldn't have been happy and my heart would've yearned to be here." — Jeremy MacLeod.

Hinewehi Mohi: Beyond Twickenham

“I was often defined by that moment which was probably, what, a minute? I get it. I understand the importance of it, but it's nice to be able to focus on new and important developments.” — Hinewehi Mohi.

This Pākehā life

by Alison Jones

“I decided to enrol in an immersion course at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, in South Auckland. My friends were impressed, commending me for my ‘bravery’.” — Alison Jones in her new book 'This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir'.

Asking the right questions

“My journey to speak Māori became an act of reclaiming my identity. I had to know who I really was, before I could speak Māori fully.” — Tainui Stephens.

Finding your voice through the reo

“The hardest part about learning Māori, is learning how to think Māori.” — Tainui Stephens.

My pepeha is my world

“I knew of relations in Auckland, but not of any tribe. All that the old man had told us was he was from ‘up north’. Oh good, that narrows it down then!” — Tainui Stephens.

Language, identity and ‘real’ Sāmoans

by Patrick Thomsen

"The issue of language and identity haunts all Sāmoans who were raised in New Zealand. I know this because of the recurring conversation on social media around whether you can call yourself a 'real' Sāmoan if you don’t speak the language." — Patrick Thomsen.

Pimp my reo

by Moana Maniapoto

“I’ve always wanted to be confidently fluent and, at times, I’ve felt like it’s been within my grasp. But then I let it slip away.”

Rahera Shortland: To know your reo is to know your culture

“Sometimes we don't appreciate what's right under our noses until we go away from home. Then we tangi weto for our reo. And that's the situation for some of our Aussie whānau.”

Celebrating our reo warriors

by Rawinia Higgins

“When the Māori Language Commission first opened its doors in 1987, te reo was viewed by many New Zealanders as something that would divide us. Māori language proponents were often seen as the enemy.”

Rawinia Higgins: Regenerating the reo

“My greatest aspiration for the future of te reo is to have a mokopuna, so I can speak Māori to that mokopuna every day.”

Timoti Karetu: A stickler for standards

by Wena Harawira

“All the Māori students at Victoria wanted to be lawyers and accountants, but I only ever wanted to be a teacher.” — Sir Timoti Karetu.

One reo to rule them all?

by Quinton Hita

“If the best resources on offer for our children aren’t in our dialect, then how the heck does dialect survive?” — Quinton Hita on the unintended consequences of the project to translate titles like 'Harry Potter' into Māori.

A Tongan without the tongue — a cautionary tale

by Koro Vaka'uta

"Rightly or wrongly, my father was trying to protect us from a world that treasured English above all else, that used English as a marker for intelligence."

I’m good at languages — so why can’t I speak Sāmoan?

by Tupe Solomon-Tanoa'i

“Many of us have lost our languages through no fault of our own. Let’s remove the shame from reclaiming our languages.”

Rawiri Wright: It’s cool to be Māori

“I believe absolutely that the Kura Kaupapa Māori Aho Matua is the way forward for us to revitalise and regenerate ourselves as Māori.”

Māori media revamp: Where’s the focus on quality journalism?

by Atakohu Middleton

Being a good reo speaker doesn’t necessarily qualify you as a good reporter.

No shortcuts to the reo

by Guyon Espiner

Guyon Espiner on how he went from zero reo to reo hero in two years.

Cathy Dewes: We have a right to be Māori in our own land

"Our goal is that all Māori children should have access to their language and be able to live as Māori in Aotearoa."

Māori media: Broadcasting can’t save te reo

by Quinton Hita

"The sad truth is our kids don’t really watch te reo Māori television. Or listen to te reo Māori radio. If they do, it’s not improving their ability to kōrero."

How compulsory te reo in schools would make us smarter

by Wiremu Manaia

A bilingual education policy may well become the greatest strategy for racial harmony and social cohesion that this country has ever seen.

Ruakere Hond: A language and a legacy

“If we're not going to use the reo on a regular basis in our homes, as we’re raising our children, we're probably going to miss the main way forward for reo Māori.”

Guyon Espiner: I’d love a New Zealand where we all embrace te reo