Maori Language Week got an early start in Hawke's Bay when commentary of Saturday night's big rugby league match in Napier was broadcast by Hawke's Bay iwi station Radio Kahungunu.
Commentator and Maori language teacher Kotuku Tomoana, of Hastings, started the campaign for broadcast access two months ago but received official word only on Saturday morning, direct from a Melbourne Storm official during a powhiri for the team and supporters at Waipatu Marae.
It was an ideal way to kick off Maori Language Week, which officially started today, Mr Tomoana saying te reo Maori sports broadcasts by the station and iwi radio network were an ideal way to foster the language, which was a core purpose of iwi stations. "What I like about it most is that it reaches our young people," he said. "All of our young people play sport. It's putting [te reo] into their domain."
Te reo is a second language for Mr Tomoana, whose mother, Ani Puroa Hinehau Tomoana (nee Kopu), was a fluent speaker and taught her husband, Boy Tomoana. Kotuku Tomoana, who played representative rugby league for Wellington and the Hawke's Bay Unicorns before becoming a referee, studied through EIT to establish his fluency. He now does Radio Kahungunu Saturday 7am-to-noon sports and recreation show Te Waka Takaro, which fulfils the obligation of broadcasting substantially in te reo Maori.
"We have a huge challenge," he said, having observed the revival of Maori language learning in recent decades, and wondering where it should be. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say it's about a 2."
