September 09, 2019
People embrace Te Wiki o te Reo Māori challenges
The Māori Language Commissioner says the early response to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori shows more New Zealanders are identifying with Māori as the country's first language.
More than 4000 people took part in a parade through Wellington yesterday to celebrate te reo Māori, and there are other parades around the country through the week.
Rawinia Higgins says people are more and more accepting te reo as part of their life and identity.
Other innovations include the work being done by this year's reo ambassadors Pere Wihongi, Guyon Espiner and Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy, and Paraone Gloyne's Mahuru Māori initiative for people to commit to speaking as much Māori as they can through the month.
"It's been interesting watching people across social media documenting their experience of Mahuru Māori. We also have the social media campaining around 'can you speak more te reo Māori than a bird?' with our cockatoo Tūmeke and out ambassadors working with the cockatoo to see if they can speak Māori. It's a bit of a paradoxical approach to celebrating te reo Māori but so far people have been positive about it so I'm pleased with that," Professor Higgins says.
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