June 27, 2023
More commitment needed for reo revival
The co-chair of Te Mātāwai says inequitable funding and lack of genuine government recognition of the importance of te reo are still major obstacles to Māori language revitalisation.
Reikura Kahi says since it was set up in 2016 to coordinate the Maori treaty partner’s response, Te Matawai has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting whānau, hapu and iwi, schools and other organisations.
It could have spent twice as much and still not met the demand.
Ms Kahi says given the decades of struggle by Maoridom, te reo should be further along than it is.
“You know, 50 years since the Maori language petition last year – what we all celebrated last year – and 50 years of Matatini, 40 years of kohanga reo, and only now do we see bilingual signage, only now do we see real growth and revitalisation of our language,” she says.
Reikura Kahi says despite being an official language of Aotearoa, te reo Maori does not come close to getting equal treatment with English.