The Māori language revival is a movement to promote, reinforce and strengthen the use of te reo Māori, the Māori language. Primarily in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, but also in places with large numbers of expatriate New Zealanders (such as

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

), the movement aims to increase the use of Māori in the home, in education, government, and business. The movement is part of a broader revival of

tikanga Māori Tikanga is a Māori concept incorporating practices and values from mātauranga Māori, Māori knowledge. Tikanga is translated into the English language with a wide range of meanings — culture, custom, ethic, etiquette, fashion, formal ...

(Māori culture, cultural habits and practices) in what has been called the Māori renaissance. Until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, most Māori people spoke Māori as their first language. But by the 1980s, fewer than 20 per cent of Māori spoke the language well enough to be classed as native speakers. The causes of the decline included the switch from using Māori to using English compulsorily in schools and increasing urbanisation, which disconnected younger generations from their extended families—in particular their grandparents, who traditionally played a large part in family life. As a result, many Māori children failed to learn their ancestral language, and generations of non-Māori-speaking Māori emerged. In response, Māori

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

initiated Māori-language recovery-programs such as the Kōhanga Reo ("

language nests A language nest is an immersion-based approach to language revitalization in early-childhood education. Language nests originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, as a part of the Māori-language revival in that country. The term "language nest" is a ...

") movement, which, beginning in 1982, immersed infants in Māori from infancy to school age. In 1989, official support was given for Kura Kaupapa Māori—primary and secondary Māori-language immersion schools.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

A government-sponsored initiative, , Māori Language Week, has been celebrated since 1975 and is intended to encourage New Zealanders to support te reo Māori.

Māori Language Act 1987 and the Māori Language Commission

The Māori Language Act 1987 was passed as a response to the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cl ...

finding that the Māori language was a ''

taonga ''Taonga'' or ''taoka'' (in South Island Māori) is a Maori-language word that refers to a treasured possession in Māori culture. It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in the Treaty of Waitangi significant. The current d ...

'', a treasure or valued possession, under the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

. The Act gave te reo Māori official-language status, and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as in court. It also established the

Māori Language Commission The Māori Language Commission ( mi, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori) is an autonomous Crown entity in New Zealand set up under the Māori Language Act 1987 with the following functions: # To initiate, develop, co-ordinate, review, advise upon, a ...

(initially called ''Te Komihana Mo Te Reo Māori'' but later renamed ''Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori'') to promote the language and provide advice on it.

Kōhanga Reo

Kōhanga Reo () is a

whānau Whānau () is Māori for extended family. It is also used in everyday New Zealand English, as well as in official publications. In Māori society, the whānau is also a political unit, below the levels of hapū (subtribe) and iwi (tribe or nati ...

(family) development and language-revitalisation initiative grounded in Māori cultural principles and ideals. It facilitates the growth and development of mokopuna (grandchildren) through the transmission of Māori language, knowledge and culture. The kōhanga reo movement operates from the Māori philosophical world view and is principally guided by

kaumātua A kaumātua is a respected tribal elder of either sex in a Māori community who has been involved with their whānau for a number of years. They are appointed by their people who believe the chosen elders have the capacity to teach and guide both ...

(respected elders). Individual Kōhanga Reo are autonomously run by their respective whānau, which consists of a "collective group of teachers, parents, local elders, and members of the Māori community". While funded by governmental quarterly grants from the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, Kōhanga Reo often also charge additional fees to cover operational costs. These fees, determined by each whānau, are generally comparable to or less expensive than traditional child-care. Conducted entirely in te reo Māori, a kōhanga reo is an environment where 0–6-year-olds, kaumātua and whānau spend time together talking, playing, praying and learning. Daily activities may take place anywhere that is safe and warm including

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term ...

(traditional community meeting places), converted homes or purpose-built centres. Emerging in the late 1970s at the direction of kaumātua, kōhanga reo was an immediate and urgent response to the decline of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori. Jean Puketapu and Iritana Tawhiwhirangi were among the early leaders when the first kōhanga reo was founded in

Wainuiomata Wainuiomata () is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. Origin of name The word 'Wainui-o-mata' is a Māori name made up of the words Wai = water, Nui = big, O = of, and Mata – which could ref ...

in 1982. Three years later there were over 300 operating. The success of kōhanga reo is such that they have been followed by the establishment of

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s and secondary schools ( Kura Kaupapa Māori) where Māori is the primary language of instruction. The role of Maori language in education in New Zealand is enshrined in the Education Act 1989. The kōhanga reo concept has led to other before-school initiatives in New Zealand that instruct in Pacific languages, e.g. Fijian, Rarotongan, Samoan, and Tongan and other countries adopting a similar concept. A notable example being '' Pūnana Leo'' established in Hawaii to revitalise the indigenous

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language ...

Politics

Election campaigns by the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

often feature increased roles for reo Māori. In the 2011 election, the party wanted to require that all secondary schools offer the language as an option to every student.

Kura Kaupapa Māori

Kura Kaupapa Māori are Māori-language-immersion schools.

References

External links

Te Kōhanga Reo National TrustLanguage Revitalisation
— Te Māngai Pāho
Aha Pūnana Leo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maori Language Revival Māori education in New Zealand Language revival Revival, Maori language