Te reo Māori is a taonga that we simply cannot afford to lose - Hūhana Lyndon

It can take generations to restore a language. From left, Anne Davies, Lissa Davies, Hūhana Lyndon, Waikamania Seve. Lyndon and her daughter Seve speak te reo but her grandmother and mother Anne and Lissa Davies don’t.

THREE KEY FACTS

• September 14, 1972 was declared Māori Language Day. Three years later, it was expanded to Māori Language Week.
• The Māori language revival is a movement to promote, reinforce and strengthen the use of the Māori language (te reo Māori).
• The Māori language declined as colonists didn’t believe in the sacredness or purpose of te reo and resulted in the ban of Māori in many schools and communities.

Hūhana Lyndon is a Green Party List MP based in Whangārei, Te Tai Tokerau. Lyndon’s portfolios include health, Māori development, Whānau Ora and forestry. She is a proud descendant of Ngāti Hine, Ngātiwai, Ngāti Whātua, Waikato Tainui and Hauraki.

OPINION

Te Reo Māori is a forever language, it is something that cannot be separated from Aotearoa, no matter how much a Government may want to.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori represented the 52nd anniversary of Te Petihana Reo Māori being delivered to Parliament. Also known as the Māori language petition, this call for our indigenous language to be revitalised and embraced after generations of repression represented a new era for te reo Māori.

This led to a resurgence of our language that culminated in a day to mark the handing over of the petition and the importance of te reo, which then evolved into a week. We celebrated Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori this year under the theme Ake Ake Ake Te Reo Māori a Forever Language.

We saw communities full of people walking around in te reo branded clothing as businesses like the Warehouse sold out of merchandise within hours. Workplaces, schools and universities across the motu all found ways to celebrate our language. In Parliament, MPs, both Māori and Pakeha, exchanged questions and answers in te reo, a real sign of how far we have come since the generations of suppression.

However, beneath the Government’s superficial support for te reo, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his coalition were consulting on deprioritising te reo in schools during Te Wiki Te Reo Māori. Once the week had concluded, they then thought it would be an appropriate time to announce that they were cutting $30 million a year from supporting the teaching of te reo in our schools.

This is a step away from the call to action that encapsulated Te Petihana Māori Reo Māori all those years ago. It is also a betrayal of Te Tiriti which holds the protection and promotion of te reo Māori at its very core. These actions are ultimately a step towards a time where te reo was effectively erased from our schools and ostracised from society.

In 1867, the Native Schools Act was passed which enforced a schooling system upon Māori that suppressed our culture and language, attempting to assimilate te ao Māori out of existence.

While there was no “official policy” to ban the use of te reo Māori in education, teachers across the country through the 20th Century promoted the use of the English language as the only mode of communication in schools. From my great-grandparent’s generation onwards, English became the language of communication as te reo Māori was whacked out of them.

However, since the delivery of Te Petihana Reo Māori in 1972, we have seen a gradual but considerable resurgence of our indigenous language.

Our first Whare Wānanga - Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Otaki was opened in 1981. The Whakatupuranga Rua Mano (Generation 2000) iwi reo revitalisation strategy rolled out from this and has been a great success amongst the tribes of the area.

In 1982 the first kohanga reo was established. I am of the first generation of graduates. Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori followed shortly after in 1985, with high school options in Whare Kura providing the natural progression for children and young people.

Te Reo Māori provision requires investment in resource and workforce, we know that demand for te reo Māori programmes now outstrips supply. Last month the PPTA (Post Primary Teachers Association) stated that there was a shortage of Te Reo Māori Teachers in Secondary Schools.

The Education and Training Act provides “all reasonable steps to make instruction available in tikanga Māori and te reo Māori”, yet this government has cut $30 million a year of Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori funding to support all New Zealand teachers at all levels to have confidence in te reo Māori.

New Zealand has a goal of having 1 million te reo Māori speakers by 2040. We have made considerable progress, with the latest census showing an increase of 15% in te reo Māori speakers to 213,000, but we still have work to do. The revitalisation of te reo Māori has been a struggle without end. We cannot afford to get complacent, the struggle must continue.

Te reo Māori is a taonga that we simply cannot afford to lose.