Why 'I will not speak Māori' is emblazoned across Wellington's waterfront

The art installation. Photo / WellingtonNZ

The words 'I will not speak Māori" have been emblazoned across Wellington's waterfront in honour of the 50-year anniversary of te reo being widely used in Aotearoa.

The art work, installed by Tame Iti, uses the same words he was forced to write over and over again by his school teachers while growing up.

"It's doing what it is supposed to do - create a conversation," Tame says.

"Everyone who has stopped to talk to me has had a different response. anger, sadness, disbelief, humiliation... all of the feelings I had as a boy when I was told to write these words."

The installation tells the story of Tame's journey along with Ngā Tamatoa from Tāmaki Makaurau to Te Whanganui-a-Tara to help present the Māori language petition to Parliament in 1972.

The petition asked for active recognition of te reo Māori, and kick-started Māori Language Day that same year.

The day would soon be extended to Māori Language Week.

WellingtonNZ are the primary funders of the installation, and chief executive John Allen says it's shocking to remember the attitudes people used to have.

""It's great that people have reacted so strongly to this phrase. This demonstrates Aotearoa's positive change in attitudes towards tangata whenua and te reo Māori."

The installation will be open to the public from September 1.