Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori: Matapihi teen ready to 'raise the dust' at Ngā Manu Kōrero finals

"Māori are foreign to their own land."

That is the key message 15-year-old Aukaha Kakau-Dickson wants to get across as a finalist in the 2019 Ngā Manu Kōrero national secondary school speech competition.

Kakau-Dickson will represent Mātaatua at the competition with his moving speech spoken in full te reo.

The competition coincides with Te Wiki o te reo Maori or Maori Language Week, which this year has the theme of Kia Kaha te Reo Māori - Let's make the Māori language strong'.

Maori Language Week aims to encourage New Zealanders to improve their skills in the language and use more te reo Māori in everyday life.

Born in Matapihi, Kakau-Dickson grew up surrounded by his whānau, who all spoke te reo.

His great-grandmother was a fluent speaker, who instilled the language throughout the family, with Kakau-Dickson saying he always knew it was "in his blood".

He said when his ancestors arrived in their waka back in the 14th century, they spoke the language and it was important to keep it alive for them.

"It always felt to me like I wasn't taught it, it has always just been there, inside me."

He always knew he would end up being schooled at Te Kura O Mauao, as past relatives had helped shape the school.

When crafting his speech for the national competition Kakau-Dickson felt a sense of anger about how so many Māori had lost connection with their land as a result of land confiscation.

His speech explored how this confiscation was still affecting communities, using the Hauraki Plains confiscation and various other local cases as examples.

He said even now, sub-tribes were still fighting for pieces of land where their whakapapa was.

It seemed like his whānau were fighting for their land, while just down the road another sub-tribe was doing the same, he said.

It felt like the objective was to divide us, in order to conquer, he said.

He said Māori Language Week was a step in the right direction, but it "isn't enough".

Te reo was a beautiful language with so many descriptive words and idioms and every person in the country should learn it, he said.

Kakau-Dickson said he wanted to "raise the dust" at the speech competition.

The Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competitions were intended to build the skills and confidence of Māori students in both English and Māori.

The contest has four categories; Pei Te Hurinui Jones, Korimako, Te Rāwhiti Ihaka and Sir Turi Carroll. It takes place in Palmerston North from today until Friday.

Goals of Māori Language Week:

- Create a positive environment for the use of Māori language.
- Promote Māori language initiatives and events.
- Encourage non-Māori speaking New Zealanders to use reo Māori.
- Encourage speakers of Māori to support others who are just starting out.
- Encourage community, business, government and media organisations to participate.
- Promote resources to make Māori language more accessible.
- Contribute to awareness of the Crown Māori Language Strategy and the Māori and iwi strategy that work together for revitalisation.
Source: Te Wiki o te Reo Māori