June 14, 2018
Reo funding needs to get to kitchen table
A far north Maori advocate is challenging the way Te Matawai is allocating community funding for Maori language revitalisation.
Penetaui Kleskovic says there is an in-built bias towards institutions that are good at writing proposals rather than those speaking and teaching Maori on a daily basis.
The new body needs to get real about what is achievable and not spread its limited putea too widely.
"There's some far winded dreams that all Maori one day are going to speak Maori. That's not the canse and it is never ever going to be the case. What do we want to do. We want to develop young Maori men who are capable of looking after their marae. The survival of te reo Maori will not be at the corporate board table of Te Matawai but rather at kitchen table," Mr Kleskovic says.
He says whanau in Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Mangonui need to stand up and take ownership of their Maori heritage.
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