Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, pictured at the programme launch of Toitū Te Reo 2025 at the Toitoi Events Centre in Hastings. Photo / Rearea Limited
Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, pictured at the programme launch of Toitū Te Reo 2025 at the Toitoi Events Centre in Hastings. Photo / Rearea Limited
A profound source of inspiration for the kaupapa.
That’s what the organisers and supporters of this year’s Toitū Te Reo Māori language festival say was signalled by the presence of Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen, at a special breakfast at Toitoi in HeretaungaHastings on Wednesday morning.
The event, held in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and to announce the programme for this year’s Toitū Te Reo festival, brought together event partners Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Mātāwai, Ngāti Kahungunu Rūnanga Arts & Culture Board, and Hastings District Council.
The presence of Te Arikinui, who served as Tumu Kairangi or luminary alongside Sir Tīmoti Kāretu at last year’s inaugural festival, signified the Māori Queen’s ongoing and ardent support for language revitalisation, festival founder and convenor Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod said.
“It not only demonstrates her commitment, it inspires us all to keep the kaupapa alive,” MacLeod said.
“Her words were poignant and they were powerful,” MacLeod said.
“Te Arikinui spoke of a new direction to achieve transformational change and mana motuhake [self-determination, independence] and of no longer allowing external forces to hinder us.
Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber (from left), Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen. Photo / Rearea Limited
MacLeod said that after two years of relentless attacks on te reo Māori, many across the motu, or country, feel drained.
“This year’s kaupapa creates space to reset and renew, to look within, block out the noise, and bring fresh thinking.”
The programme for Toitū Te Reo 2025 includes street celebrations with free concerts, presentations, expo areas and wānanga/tribal knowledge filling the Hastings CBD.
Alongside these, the ticketed symposium programme will focus on just two spaces, Rangimamao, full immersion in te reo Māori, and Pūmotomoto, entirely in English.
Symposium topics announced at today’s launch will confront some of the biggest issues for te reo Māori today.
These include artificial intelligence (AI), sustaining te reo in the home, future dialects, unpacking language trauma, elitism and accessibility, neurodiversity and language acquisition and the widening gap between those who can access te reo and those still striving to reclaim it, among many other kōrero, or talks, at the festival.
“The renaissance of te reo Māori was led not by policy but by people who cared enough to fight for it,” MacLeod said.
“Now is the time to look within, to open hearts and open minds and to face the real issues for our reo.”
Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber said his iwi was proud to once again stand at the centre of the kaupapa.
