Tue, Apr 13, 2021 1:37 PM

Iwi collaborate to host region’s first te reo Māori revitalisation symposium

news-card
avatar-news-card

Staff reporter

Champions of te reo Māori are set to inspire people to use the language everyday as part of a new revitalisation bid.

Some of New Zealand’s most acclaimed te reo Māori advocates will gather in Marlborough next month for the region’s first ever Māori language forum.

Experts hope the move will encourage those already working at the coalface of language revitalisation efforts and the wider community to adopt more te reo Māori.

Normalising te reo Māori will help ensure the language is not lost, says Pou Arataki Ahurea at Rangitāne o Wairau Jeremy Tātere MacLeod.

“Te Tauihu o Te Waka-a-Māui is one of many regions to have experienced the devastating loss of Māori language.

“We all have a role to play in normalising te reo Māori and bringing it back - into our everyday lives, into our workplaces, into our homes. It’s a big job, but if we can inspire people and help spark that flame, then it all helps,” he says.

Sir Tīmoti Kāretu (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu) is one of several key speakers.

The first Māori language commissioner is one of Māoridom’s most respected linguists. In 2003, he was closely involved in the foundation of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, the Institute of Excellence in Māori Language, and served as its executive director.

In 2019, Tīmoti translated nine songs from English to Māori language for the album, Waiata/Anthems, which peaked at No. 1 on the New Zealand album charts in September 2019.

Organisers, Te Tauihu iwi Ngāti Apa ki Te Rā Tō and Rangitāne o Wairau have arranged for a raft of special speakers to be at the event including radio and TV broadcasters and well-known Māori language champions Stacey and Scotty Morrison

They will be joined by stars of popular Māori Television kids’ show Te Nūtube Te Haakura and Atareta (Te Arawa), human rights lawyer and advocate Annette Sykes, author and te reo Māori lecturer Hēmi Kelly, and Tukiterangi and Renata Curtis, of Ngāti Rongomai in Rotorua, founders and co-principals of Te Wharekura o Ngāti Rongomai.

Te Kaiaotanga o Te Reo is to be held in Blenheim on May 19 and 20, 2021. Tickets are now available – visit www.tekaiaotangaotereo.co.nz

Marlborough App Logo
Marlborough App
About
Contact
Marlborough App is owned by Top South Media. a locally owned media company.