Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

It brought a new and radical edge to Māori protest in its calls for the Treaty of Waitangi to be ratified. Its tactics included nationwide petitions to have the Māori language taught in schools, and submissions on government policy.

Ngā Tamatoa was based in Auckland. In Wellington another community-based organisation, the Te Reo Māori Society, was combating the threat to te reo Māori posed by the declining number of native speakers.

Along with Te Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association), these organisations collected tens of thousands of signatures for the Māori language petition which was presented to Parliament on 14 September 1972. This petition signalled the beginning of the modern period of Māori language revitalisation.