Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

Story: Te Mana o te Reo Māori

Te Reo Māori agencies

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Te Mātāwai
Four males and two females standing in from of a Māori meeting house in Parliament.
The Maori Language Commission with Maori Affairs Minister Koro Wetere at the official launch today. From left are Mr Ray Harlow, Dr Timoti Karetu, Archdeacon Kingi Ihaka, Mr Wetere, Mrs Katerina [sic] Mataira, and Mrs Anita Moke.’ Photographed on 28 August 1987 by an unidentified Evening Post staff photographer.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: EP/1987/4271/18-F.

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Commission) was established by the Māori Language Act 1987 to provide independent advice, recommendations and oversight of te reo Māori. As an autonomous Crown Entity, it supports community organisations in their Māori language endeavours and urges greater government support for the teaching and public use of the language. From its inception the Commission has promoted the Māori language as part of the heritage of all New Zealanders, in addition to its status as a taonga of the Māori people.

In 2016 a new Māori Language Act established an entirely new model for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori to work within. This was based on the idea that the Crown and Māori each represent one side of a single house, Te Whare o te Reo Mauriora – The House of Living Language. The Act established a new body, Te Mātāwai, to represent Māori and develop and implement a strategy called Te Maihi Māori for language revitalisation in iwi and communities. Te Taura Whiri was given a leadership role in the implementation of this strategy throughout New Zealand, especially in the public sector.

This model has led to the development of two ambitious strategies aimed at massively increasing the use of Māori and the number of te reo speakers by 2040, the bicentenary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

All iwi and all Crown organisations have a role to play. Te Taura Whiri reaches out to New Zealanders in Māori Language Week and other promotions. Increasing numbers of people are learning te reo, from pre-schoolers to kaumātua.

All these activities stem from the te reo Māori claim, WAI11, which was made by a small group inspired by the earlier actions of even smaller groups – people who saw a need for change and organised themselves to achieve it.


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