Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori: Hawke's Bay school joins the nation in Māori language moment

From schools, to workplaces to whānau and friends, more than a million New Zealanders stopped to celebrate te reo Māori by joining the Māori Language Moment.

Participating in the event can mean people either engaging in waiata, pānui, kōrero, ako, whakarongo or tākaro Māori.

Bledisloe School, Napier was one of many schools around New Zealand who stopped and took a moment, at 12pm on Tuesday, to celebrate and encourage the use of te reo Māori.

Joy Makene, senior middle school teacher, said approximately 100 middle school students, 100 seniors and at least 25 juniors joined the moment.

"We wanted to participate in Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, just like we did last year," Makene said.

"It's all about getting a higher profile around te reo and keeping the language alive."

Kaylah Adams, front and centre celebrates te reo Māori at Bledisloe School. Photo / Paul Taylor

She said due to level 2 restrictions the school wasn't allowed to sing or dance in enclosed spaces.

"So the middle-school children took part in kīwaha, which are little sayings in te reo Māori.

"A kīwaha can be made up and can mean anything as long as it is a saying. So we had a saying about celebrating people.

"The children had to do it outside, and seniors did a waiata outside."

She said it was great to see the school encouraging the use of te reo and it was "wonderful" to be part of it.

"We will be taking part next year as well."

Mila Papuni reads (pānui) as part of the Māori language moment. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay Region councillor Charles Lambert (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana) believes that these te reo Māori "moments" should happen all the time.

"We should be doing this sort of thing. It's going to be a bit tricky with Covid-19 rules, normally I would meet some friends for a coffee and a kōrero, but with Covid restrictions it might be better to meet in park and have a kōrero," he said.

"You don't have to have a lot of reo to take part in these things, you just need to make a start."