Editorial: Rise, fall and rise of te reo Māori

A hikoi "walks the talk" to celebrate Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week. Photo / Ben Fraser, File

EDITORIAL

What sets New Zealand apart from the world and makes New Zealanders unique wherever they go? What words bring a happy tear to the homeward bound as a long-haul aircraft descends through the clouds towards our international airport at Mangere?

The answer is te reo Māori and more of the world is waking up to this lyrical, poetic, and unique taonga.

Te reo began its voyage when the first Māori landed on these shores. The language used previously in the Cook Islands and beyond evolved as the settlers uncovered the mysteries of these sub-tropical isles.

So it was until at least the first half-century or so of European settlement, when early European settlers were dependent on Māori for many things and had to learn to speak the language if they wished to trade with them.

Pākehā were in the majority by the early 1860s and English became the dominant language of New Zealand. Increasingly, te reo was confined to Māori communities that lived separately from Pākehā.

Urban drift after WWII resulted in increasing numbers of Māori speakers adopting the dominant English in the cities.

Fifty years ago, in 1972, rangatahi from Ngā Tamatoa, Te Reo Māori Society and Te Huinga Rangatahi, supported by kaumātua, presented Parliament with a petition of more than 30,000 signatures, calling for te reo Māori to be taught in all schools.

It took until the 1980s before major Māori-language recovery programmes began. Many were targeted at young people and the education system. The kōhanga reo movement, which immersed Māori pre-schoolers in the Māori language, began in 1982 when the first kōhanga reo opened in Lower Hutt.

The revival has been vigorous. By 2006, one quarter of Māori aged between 15 and 64 could hold a conversation in te reo.

Today, te reo is a part of everyday conversations.

From Hawkins to Air New Zealand, Spark to ANZ, TVNZ to Z Energy, Radio NZ to Herald publisher NZME, Countdown to Foodstuffs, they're all doing it - embracing te ao Māori (the Māori world) and te reo Māori. We have Whittakers Chocolate and its Miraka Kirīmi (creamy milk).

It's not been without gripe. Māori was made an official language of New Zealand under the Maori Language Act of 1987 but it still seems to surprise some people 35 years on. Strangely enough, many complainants use a Māori word to describe themselves (Kiwi) while insisting less Māori be "shoved down our throats".

But most of the country has moved on. The Broadcasting Standards Authority now automatically ignores complaints about the use of te reo.

Ae, te reo is alive, powered by the breath of its proponents. New words are being added, just as new words are also needed in English. Covid (kowheore) was created a mere three years ago.

Nau mai, haere mai, Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori.