Māori Communities

WHERE IS MAORI LANGUAGE PLANNING USEFUL?

Te Reo o te kāinga

Speaking Māori to Tamariki

Planning ways to help whānau speak Māori in the home environment is particularly important as it supports intergenerational language transmission (the natural way that language is passed from parent to child) and helps children grow up with reo Māori as an ordinary feature of everyday life. 

Using reo Māori within our households with our children is the best way to make sure that Māori becomes a living and normal means of communication for future generations.  Living in Aotearoa gives you the opportunity to help your child or children become a Māori language speaker – even if you don’t speak Māori yourself.  There are plenty of language learning opportunities and support to encourage basic communication in the home.  The most important thing is that your children see value in the language being spoken.  This can only really happen when you speak it. 

Te Reo o te Marae

Reo, Tikanga, Identity

Marae connect us to Māori cultural traditions and ancestry through our orators, kaikōrero and kaikaranga, and the customs inherent to marae such as pōhiri and tangihanga.  The marae is one of the few places where reo-a-iwi and tikanga are expressed through the support of kaumätua, kuia and historians of local iwi and hapü knowledge.  Because of this, the marae is one of the few institutions today where the Māori language still has a strong foothold.

Yet we cannot be complacent about reo Māori on our marae because it is now becoming more common to hear people speaking English both outside of and as part of ceremonial activities.  

If we want marae to remain a stronghold for Māori language use, careful language planning will need to take place around the reo Māori abilities and awareness, particularly of those in the current 40+ years age group, as they are to become the elders and keepers of tradition and tikanga on the marae (paepae, karanga etc).  The Health of the Māori Language 2001 survey identified that overall, those in the 35-44 age group (born and raised during the Māori urban migration of 1950s and 1960s, had the lowest levels of Māori language ability.

Te Reo o te Hapori

Using reo Māori in everyday life. 

Communities have a significant role to play in supporting language regeneration because of their influence on individuals and families in their lives outside the home environment.  Communities can be made up of a variety of people and organisations, and are important because of their potential to create language domains (places or situations that support Māori language use) and opportunities to learn and use the language.

Today, there are many examples of Maori driven language and culture initiatives such as Māori Language Clubs, Te Ataarangi, köhanga reo, kura kaupapa and wānanga reo Māori.

Māori language planning is necessary to ensure that community initiated language activities are developed that support people’s ability to use reo Māori in their everyday lives so that the reo does not become a language isolated and reserved only for ceremonial occasions.

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