Kia ora e te whānau,
Next week we will celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2020 (Māori Language Week 2020) with the rest of Aotearoa. We have planned a number of fun activities that will be done in our classes. Feel free to take a look at some of the planned activities by following this link.
Ways you could participate:
- The Māori Language Moment is a new initiative for 2020. You can join 1,000,000 other kiwis in the challenge of doing an activity that includes te reo Māori at the same time, 12pm on Rāhina/Monday 14. You could sing a waiata, play a game, say a karakia, practice a short sentence/command or read a pukapuka/book.
- You can talk with our tamariki about how they have celebrated te reo Māori each day and use a little te reo Māori at home.
- You could use a little te reo in your homes and workplaces.
Poi making:
One of the big activities is to make the sock poi, we had planned to do earlier in the term prior to lockdown To do this activity, all students will need to bring:
- 1 pair of short (above ankle) socks
- 1 pair of long socks (knee high) (Colourful ones if preferred but not essential)
Students will be able to keep the poi afterwards and the socks won’t be ruined in the process.
Here’s a link to a video of the activity for those of you who are interested.
Kia kaha te reo Māori!
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
Māori Language week has been celebrated each year from 1975.
Māori Language Day is September 14 and commemorates the presentation of the 1972 Māori language petition to parliament.
Mahuru Māori is an initiative begun in 2017 to promote the use of te reo Māori throughout the month of September.
Why a week? Why not a year? Why not a decade? A century?
Because New Zealand is revitalising the Māori language and a part of that is celebration of our success and promoting te reo Māori. Māori language week is an opportunity for concentrated celebration, promotion and encouragement. And every minute of every hour of every day is a Māori language minute – we can choose to use te reo – every time we do, even just a ‘Kia ora!’ contributes to revitalisation.
Te Wiki o te reo Māori is becoming a major fixture on the national calendar providing an opportunity for concentrated promotion, raising awareness and giving an opportunity for expert and advanced speakers to encourage others on their te reo Māori journey.
Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori
The chosen theme for 2020 is again ‘Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’.
‘Kia Kaha’ is well understood in New Zealand English with its meaning of ‘be strong’. We often talk about languages as if they are people – talking about language health, strength and revitalisation. So when we say ‘Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’ we’re saying – ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong’.
Strength for an endangered language comes from its status, people being aware of how to support revitalisation, people acquiring and using it and from the language having the right words and terms to be used well for any purpose.
On this site (https://www.tewikiotereomaori.co.nz/) you can find resources, ideas and reports about revitalisation and its increasing success.
It’s a part of the national promotion of te reo Māori undertaken by Crown agencies and coordinated by the Māori Language Commission as part of the Crown’s Māori language strategy, the Maihi Karauna. This strategy supports the revitalisation strategy of Māori and iwi, led by Te Mātāwai.
Te reo Maori is a taonga of Māori, guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi. But the Māori Language Act 2016 also makes clear it is for every New Zealander and a valued part of our national identity.
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.
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