() is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

ers to promote the use of the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to revive the Māori language. It has been celebrated since 1975 and is currently spearheaded by (the Ministry of Māori Development) and the Māori Language Commission, with many organisations including schools, libraries, and government departments participating.

History

In the early 1970s as a part of the

Māori protest movement The Māori protest movement is a broad indigenous rights movement in New Zealand (). While there was a range of conflicts between Māori and Pākehā, European immigrants prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the signing prov ...

, activist group Ngā Tamatoa, the Te Reo Māori Society of Victoria University, and Te Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association) presented a petition to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, petitioned the government to teach te reo in schools. On 14 September 1972, this petition, signed by over 30,000 people was delivered to Parliament, and became a major event in the revitalisation of te reo in New Zealand. 14 September quickly began to be celebrated as Māori Language Day, and by 1975, this had grown to become the first Māori Language Week.

2008

The week in 2008 saw the release of Google Māori, a Māori-language translation of the search engine created as a collaboration between Potaua and Nikolasa Biasiny-Tule of Tangatawhenua.com, the Māori Language Commission and Google. The process took over a year and involved more than 40 people on the project, due to the difficulty of translating the technical terminology.

2014

For te Wiki o te Reo Māori in 2014, musicians Stan Walker, Ria Hall, Troy Kingi and Maisey Rika collaborated on the song "

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...

", as a challenge to get a second song in te reo to reach number one in New Zealand (after " Poi E" in 1984).

2015

On 2 August 2015 the Black Caps (the New Zealand national cricket team) played under the name of

for their first match against Zimbabwe to celebrate Māori Language Week.

2016

Maimoa (then known as Pūkana and Whānau), a musical group created from the presenters of the Māori Television show ''Pūkana'' celebrated te Wiki o te Reo Māori by releasing the single "Maimoatia", written with Te Haumihiata Mason. The song topped the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

downloads chart in New Zealand, reaching number 4 on the

Official New Zealand Music Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

's subchart for New Zealand musicians.

2017

The 2016 Disney film '' Moana'' was dubbed into Māori, premiering in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 11 September as a part of te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2017. Rachel House, Jemaine Clement, Temuera Morrison, and

Oscar Kightley Oscar Vai To'elau Kightley (born 14 September 1969) is a Samoan-New Zealand actor, television presenter, writer, journalist, director, and comedian. He acted in and co-wrote the successful 2006 film '' Sione's Wedding''. Biography Kightley was ...

, all cast members of the original English language version of the film, reprised their respective roles in the te reo version. During the week, 30 theatres across the country held free screenings of the reo version.

2019

During Māori Language Week 2019, it was reported in New Zealand media that even

kaumātua A kaumātua is a respected tribal elder 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 current a ...

(elders) were learning te reo (Māori language). It was also reported that more than one fifth of book sales during that week were Māori. To mark the 20th anniversary of the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

semi-final, where Hinewehi Mohi performed the national anthem in te reo, Mohi created '' Waiata / Anthems'', an album where 11 New Zealand musicians re-recorded songs into te reo Māori. The album debuted at number 1 on the

, and was one of the most successful albums of 2019 in New Zealand.

2021

At midday on 14 September 2021, te Wiki o te Reo Māori was celebrated with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – the Māori Language Moment, where over 1.1 million people pledged to use te reo at the same time. On the same day, 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 ...

launched a petition to change the country's name to

. Due to the success of ''Waiata / Anthems'' in 2019, the project was expanded to become Waiata Anthems Week, an annual release of a playlist in te reo Māori, with the goal of making the New Zealand music scene more bilingual. In 2021, more than 30 musicians participated in the project, including

Six60 Six60 is a New Zealand pop rock band formed in Dunedin, Otago in 2008. The band consists of Matiu Walters (lead vocals, guitar), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Chris Mac (drums, bass guitar), and Marlon Gerbes (guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser). Th ...

, whose single " Pepeha" debuted at number two on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. Te Tairāwhiti ( Gisborne Region)-based choir Ka Hao also saw charting success, with their single collaborating with songwriter Rob Ruha, " 35" (a reference to State Highway 35), reaching number 25. September saw the release of many albums by popular musicians sung in te reo, including

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

's '' Te Ao Mārama'', Stan Walker's '' Te Arohanui'', Alien Weaponry's '' Tangaroa'', and Ka Hao's ''Ka Hao: One Tira, One Voice''.

2022

The 2022 celebrations of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori marked 50 years since the Māori Language Petition was presented to parliament. To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Whittaker's released a special edition version of their milk chocolate, rebranded as Miraka Kirīmi (creamy milk) in te reo. The rebranding caused widescale controversy due to racist backlash criticising the rebranding, and sparked a response to support the naming of the chocolate bar in te reo. The third Waiata / Anthems week was held prior to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, including over 20 musicians releasing new music in te reo, and a new series of

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

documentaries following popular musicians producing Māori language songs. Among the most successful songs from the 2022 waiata include "Whāia te Māramatanga (Walk Right Up)" by Ladi6, a reimagining of

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

' " Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (1982) performed by

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

and Hana Mereraiha, a remix of Moana and the Moahunters' 1991 single "AEIOU" by Tiki Taane, and " Ka Taria", performed by Rob Ruha and Drax Project.

Dates and themes

References

External links

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week
– at NZHistory {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiki o te Reo Māori, Te 1975 establishments in New Zealand Recurring events established in 1975 Māori education in New Zealand Week, Maori Language Awareness weeks Language revival Language observances July observances August observances September observances Holidays and observances by scheduling (varies) Annual events in New Zealand Language policy