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The chief executive of Te Taura Whiri o te reo Māori says progress in revitalising the Māori language can’t be taken for granted.
It’s Māori language week, and Ngahiwi Apanui says that’s still a centrepiece of the commission ‘s work – especially now its role is to get wider New Zealand to value the language and support its use.
The strategy for language learning among Māori is now driven by Te Matawai, which represents iwi and Māori organisations.
Mr Apanui says while some of the data is positive, progress is hard won and requires constant effort.
“You can have legal protection for your language, you can have things like kohanga and kura kaupapa and wharekura and wananga but you still have to get our people to them and unfortunately the assimilationist policy worked so well we are still finding a majority of our people still don’t speak the language,” he says.
Mr Apanui says when people learn te reo Māori they also need to learn tikanga and the history of Aotearoa.
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