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From embarassed to grateful:

Netball star Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit grew up thinking everyone in Aotearoa spoke Te Reo Māori.Living in Ōtaki, her mother had made a concerted effort to ensure she and her siblings grew up immersed in te ao Māori; and while Selby-Rickit used to feel awkward about this – she’s now grateful for the experience.It’s not that she was embarrassed to be Māori, she said, but more a case of feeling self-conscious and uncool because she “couldn’t speak English properly.”Link to article:...

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei celebrating

Tangata whenua Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are celebrating Auckland Anniversary this Sunday and says there should be a conversation about moving it from January.Cultural expert Joe Pihema told Breakfast September 18 is the correct day to celebrate and the iwi are inviting all Aucklanders to join them in inaugural celebrations of what they regard as the actual anniversary this Sunday, September 18.Link to video and article:  Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei celebrating Auckland Anniversary on Sunday...

The anatomy

Have you ever said a pepeha?Speaking from experience as a Pākehā man who hasn't really engaged much with te ao Māori in my life, it can be a bit nerve-wracking. You want to engage, it's exciting and you're learning things - but you don't want to say the wrong thing. You don't want to be disrespectful. You don't want to embarrass yourself. You have to think about things in a different way: what's my maunga, my mountain? What's my awa, my river? Where do I consider my home, my he...

New $1.3m classrooms open for rumaki students

For the Matenga siblings, Merivale School's two brand new immersion classrooms will "make a really big difference".They are just three of 38 Ngā Hau e Whā pupils - the school's full Māori immersion unit - who have started learning inside the new buildings in line with the start of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.An official opening was held early yesterday morning to bless the whare wānanga, with mana whenua, staff, pupils and the school's former principal Jan Tinetti, the current Associate Minister...

Massey University lecturer told Māori students

A senior lecturer at Massey University has apologised for telling two Māori students they “don’t look Māori”.Dr Chris Galloway, who teaches public relations at the university’s Albany campus, made the comment towards students Mikaela Matenga and Caleb Monk, who were representing Te Waka ō Ngā Ākonga Māori (Māori Students Association) stall at Clubs Day on July 20.Matenga (Te Arawa, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Tuhourangi), who is the president of the association, said Galloway told the p...

Treasury rips into Oranga Tamariki

A scathing report by Treasury into Oranga Tamariki's finances has described "loose fiscal controls" within the agency and a "weak organisational strategy and direction".Treasury's review into the spending of the $1.1 billion allocated to Oranga Tamariki in the 2019 Well-being Budget were called a "disparate collection of ideas, not governed by a clear organisational strategy".Minister for Children Kelvin Davis told Nine to Noon the entire system surrounding the agency is inequitable, b...

Māori rights advocate, academic

Prominent kaumātua, academic and long-serving member of the New Zealand Māori Council, Maanu Paul, has died at the age of 83.He was a teacher, academic, leader and keen organic gardener who fought tirelessly and advocated passionately for the interests of his iwi, hapū, whānau and te ao Māori in general.He served as executive chair of the New Zealand Māori Council for from 1997 to 2002.Paul was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019 for his services to Māori.Link to art...

'Spread te ao Māori far and wide':

AMāori cultural group based in London missing out on Te Wiki o te Reo Māori are still taking part by sending a message in reo to Kiwis back home.Ngāti Rānana members told The Project the kīwaha (colloquialisms) they have for people back in Aotearoa New Zealand."Spread te ao Māori far and wide and out to the world," one member said.Link to article: 'Spread te ao Māori far and wide': Kiwis in London send message to NZers back home (msn.com)...

NZ needs to shift away from 'monocultural ways of thinking

The chair of the National Urban Māori Authority Lady Tureiti Moxon has said New Zealand still has a long way to go when it comes to embracing different languages and cultures within Aotearoa.On Thursday Newshub revealed a New World store in Palmerston North has an employee handbook that said staff are required to only talk in English.In the book it states that: "Whilst New World Melody's welcomes our diverse culture and allows all languages to be spoken, we do require all discussions on th...

'I wish I knew more':

Speaking to AM, McDougall said she was first introduced to te reo by her father when she was at primary school."He forced me and my little sister to learn how to recite a really long prayer, the Lord's Prayer, off by heart, which is a really long and difficult prayer, so learning it as a child was quite impressive," she said.From then on, McDougall learned bits and pieces of the reo, taking part in school kapa haka and doing a karanga at assemblies. But McDougall said she lost some of the k...

With or without you, we will sail in both worlds:

It has been a day of celebration and reflection for those who delivered the Māori Language petition exactly 50 years ago.The day kicked off with a dawn ceremony at the National Library where mana whenua blessed an exhibition created in its honour.The exhibition named Tōku Reo, Tōku Ohooho - My Language Is My Awakening included the petition itself, photos and videos.Te Reo Māori Society member, Dr Rob Pouwhare, felt a mixture of emotions at the exhibition including joy at how far th...

Te reo Māori 'not going anywhere',

It's Māori Language Week, which means you've no doubt seen a plethora of social media posts celebrating te reo, and you may also have seen an increase in racist rhetoric in the comments section.Te Reo teacher Anton Matthews says he used to get angry reading the offensive comments, but now he feels aroha."It used to get under my skin but now I feel a bit of sympathy because it's coming from a place of fear. They have always been in control and part of the majority and never had their identity ch...

Whangarei real estate agent lists property

A Whangarei Heads house has been put on the market with an online listing in te reo Māori, and it could be a first for the real estate industry, the agent says.Te reo Māori might have become one of New Zealand’s official languages in 1987, and the inclusion of te reo in popular culture and business is now widespread, but it is not commonly used in real estate.But Te Wiki o te Reo Māori was being celebrated this week, and Ray White Whangarei agent Daniel Foote wanted to acknowledge and ...

The Te Reo Warriors who fought to ensure

The Māori Language Petition was driven by the mana of some of Te Ao Māori's most esteemed rangatahi groups including Ngā Tamatoa,Te Reo Māori Society and Te Huinga Rangatahi who delivered the boxes of signed papers to Parliament on September 14 1972.Eighteen-year-old Whaimutu Dewes from TRM and his sister Cathy Dewes were also some of the movement's pioneers.Dewes said it was like a "military procedure"."My sister was our commander. She had the maps, she had the teams. She instructed the str...

'Disgusted': New World store slammed for 'draconian' rule

Newshub has seen a document from a New World store in Palmerston North that required staff to talk in only English on the shop floor.Foodstuffs said the intent was to make everyone feel included but the Race Relations Commissioner said it was discriminatory and even against the law. New World Broadway, located in the heart of Palmerston North, is a bustling supermarket that on social media at least appears to endorse the use of other languages like te reo Māori - they love it, in fact.&nbs...

Te Ara Reo installation on waterfront

Commuters soaked up the sights, sounds and pride of Tui Hui Ahurei Reo Māori on the Wellington waterfront on Thursday morning.Waru (AJ) Sullivan was walking through the Te Ara Reo installation near the TSB Arena on a sunny, still Wellington morning.“It makes me proud to be Māori and a New Zealander,” Sullivan said.Link to video and article: Te Ara Reo installation on waterfront delights Wellington commuters | Stuff.co.nz...

‘Struggle’ to reach 1 million Māori language speakers

Reaching a million te reo Māori speakers by 2040 to ensure the survival of the language will be a struggle at the current rate of learning, Māori Language Commissioner Rawinia Higgins says.Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.However, the uptake of reo learners is growing as Aotearoa embraces its national identity.Forecasting data shows there will be 260,000 people who can speak te reo Māori at a conversati...

The Conversation: Te reo Māori and tokenism -

In 2017, the Whanganui River was made a person in the eyes of the law. The Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act acknowledged, in its own way, that the human world includes other, more-than-human entities.It was perceived at the time as quite a radical step for the law, and it is undoubtedly legally significant. But this profound interconnection which underpins all things has been self-evident for Māori and other indigenous peoples for millennia.With all things in the world posse...

Te reo Māori revitalisation efforts needed

Te reo Māori is still considered a vulnerable language, with the dialects of some iwi being worse off.So tribal leaders are calling for more revitalisation efforts towards dialectal differences.Atu i Moana ki Te Kīngi Raiona, ko Disney tētahi o ngā kaupapa hōu e whakanui nei i te reo taketake o Aotearoa.From Moana to The Lion King, Disney is one of the latest initiatives valuing the indigenous language of Aotearoa, New Zealand. The recent dub being the fir...

Monty Soutar

Acclaimed Maori historian Monty Soutar has turned his hand to fiction for the first time, drawing on almost 40 years of research into the history of Aotearoa and his own ancestral line.Kāwai: For Such a Time as This, is the first in an ambitious series looking at how colonisation has shaped Aotearoa New Zealand. In the novel,  a 19 year old Māori student asks his elderly grand-uncle about his tipuna, the respected warrior Kaitanga. That's in 1980. Then we're taken back to 1734, to Te Mani...

The time te reo Māori

Te reo Māori has been through a lot over the years, facing extreme challenges and surviving only through sheer hard work and determination.Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.It bears the scars of colonisation, with many Māori today struggling to twist their tongue around vowels, becoming embarrassed when the words fail to flow the way they should.So how did te reo Māori get to the point where it became an...

Meng Foon

Meng Foon is probably one of the most well-known and visible examples of someone tauiwi/non-Māori who can confidently kōrero Māori.When Steven Chow, who would become my co-producer/co-director, first mentioned his idea of doing a documentary on Meng as a high-profile Chinese New Zealander, I was immediately interested as someone who is also Chinese and who has also been learning Māori for the last decade or so.It is rare to find older tauiwi who are vocal about being tangata Tiriti. Many oth...

Māori Language Week 2022: A personal journey

A journey that will span a lifetime.My parents could speak their native languages. Dad: Tongan and English - admittedly, broken - and Mum: Māori, Tongan and English fluently.However, they felt the way forward for their children was to speak English.Te reo Māori and Tongan were spoken by my parents and uncles and aunties in the house, but never to us as kids. I picked up some words and phrases but was never encouraged to speak them.Link to article: Māori Language Week 2022: A personal jou...

Te reo advocate Hana Te Hemara

Afive-storey mural of te reo advocate Hana Te Hemara will be unveiled in Ngāmotu / New Plymouth this week as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition to parliament in 1972.Te Hemara (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) was a founding member of the Māori rights group Ngā Tamatoa which helped collect 30,000 signatures calling for te reo Māori to be taught in schools.Ngā Tamatoa chose Ngāmotu as the location for the I Am Hana Project which honours H...

Mike McRoberts reveals his hopes for deeply personal documentary

He has been on our TV screens for more than two decades, but in a new documentary we're set to see a whole new Mike McRoberts.Kia Ora, Good Evening follows his journey as he attempts to reclaim a taonga that was lost to his whānau a generation ago - the ability to speak te reo Māori.McRoberts' story is one of language loss, disconnection, trauma, reconnection and re-awakening. It is set to be broadcast on Tuesday evening via Three and ThreeNow, and he has admitted to feeling some anxiety ...