The Hits DJ Adam Green.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2022. A milestone in maintaining and growing the use of te reo Māori in the community, 50 years after Hana Te Hemara marched to parliament, signatures in hand, to ensure one of NZ's official languages was not lost, in our country Aotearoa-New Zealand.
In
years before this, Māori in New Zealand had, in some instances, had the language quite literally beaten from them, while others, believing that to progress was to lose te reo Māori from their communities and homes, stopped using it altogether.
In those 50 years we have seen the growth of Māori Language Day into the Māori Language Week we currently have, and the continued normalisation of te reo Māori use in everyday New Zealand.
In the previous week, I have been lucky enough to speak to some prominent New Zealanders about their journey learning not only te reo Māori, but also of their history, their culture, and the struggles those before them have undergone.
Award winning journalist and stalwart of 6pm in NZ homes, Mike McRoberts, spoke of being called out as 'not Māori enough' due to his lack of te reo Māori knowledge, and his recent documentary was an eye-opening account of what so many grown Kiwis go through in an attempt to learn, and reconnect.
