Māori Language Week 2010

HE REO E KŌREROTIA ANA, HE REO KA ORA

A spoken language is a living language.

Te reo Māori is the indigenous language of New Zealand. It is also one of our official languages. It can be seen and heard all around us, in the placenames of our mountains, rivers, flora and fauna. Te reo Māori is not just for Māori people. It is part of our cultural heritage, part of living in Aotearoa (New Zealand). It is also part of what makes Aotearoa unique internationally.

Te reo Māori (Māori Language) has had a turbulent history. It was the dominant language of New Zealand for the first half of the 19th century. With the influx of settlers to Aotearoa, te reo Māori soon became increasingly confined to Māori communities – the pā and whānau homes. The use of te reo Māori was banned in schools in the 1870s, and English became the dominant language of New Zealand.

As the call from Māori people to address Tino Rangatiratanga (self determination) became stronger, so too did the call to revitalise te reo Māori. In the early 1970s, a national Te Reo Māori Day was introduced which soon expanded into Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week). In the early 1980s, kōhanga reo (language nests), kura kaupapa (immersion schools) and wānanga (tribal universities) were established. In the late 1980s, Māori broadcasting was introduced on radio and television, and te reo Māori was declared an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand.

In 2003, the Government launched its revised Māori Language Strategy. One of the functions outlined in the strategy is Māori Language Archiving. This relates to the collection, preservation and promotion of Māori Language contained in archival collections. The National Library is the lead agency for this function, along with Archives New Zealand.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is an opportunity to promote and support te reo Māori. This year the Library is celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori with an online exhibition that supports the theme 'Te Mahi Kai - The Language of Food'.