December 15, 2014
Marae connections still strong
A third of Maori have visited their home marae in the recent past, according to a new report by Statistics New Zealand.
Taku marae e: Connecting to ancestral marae is the study taken from the department’s 2013 Te Kupenga survey of Maori well-being.
It found 71 percent or nearly 400,000 Maori over 15 know which of the country’s 800-plus marae is theirs, and half of those had visited during the year the survey was done.
Households statistics manager Diane Ramsay says Maori who visit their marae are also more likely to be engaged in other aspects of Maori culture, such as speaking te reo and knowing pepeha or tribal identity.
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