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Download AudioMāori Language Commissioner Rawinia Higgins says attending next week’s next week’s International Decade of Indigenous Languages event in France will be a chance to measure progress in revitalising te reo Māori against what’s happening elsewhere.
Indigenous people are only 6 percent of the world’s population, but have about 4000 of the world’s 7000 spoken languages.
The United Nations has declared the decade because of the increasing loss of those languages.
Professor Higgins says 50 years on from the Māori Language Petition Aotearoa has a story to tell.
“We have the opportunity to present that on a global platform, to hopefully inspire but also give examples of sharing good practice across different nations – for us to hopefully learn from as well on what are some of the other opportunities that we may not have explored,” she says.
London-based kapa haka Ngāti Rānana will be part of the opening ceremony for the event.
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