The Māori language petition is presented to parliament (Image: Ministry of Culture and Heritage, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)
The Māori language petition is presented to parliament (Image: Ministry of Culture and Heritage, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)

ĀteaSeptember 15, 2023

Making te reo Māori official

The Māori language petition is presented to parliament (Image: Ministry of Culture and Heritage, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)
The Māori language petition is presented to parliament (Image: Ministry of Culture and Heritage, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)

This wiki o te reo Māori, Airana Ngarewa looks back on how the revitalisation efforts began.

Te reo Māori was not made an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand until 1987. This was 15 years after the Māori language petition was presented at the steps of parliament by Hana Te Hemara, an act that marked the beginning of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – at the time celebrated as Māori Language Day. 

The journey to make te reo an official language of this country began in 1985 with the Wai 11 Māori Language Claim submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal by Huirangi Waikerepuru and Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau i te Reo. A hearing was held later in the same year at Waiwhetū Marae in Lower Hutt where a laundry list of Aotearoa icons spoke in support of the claim including Sir James Hēnare, Sir Tipene O’Regan, Māori Marsden and Sonny Waru. Māori and non-Māori alike came from all four corners of the country to tautoko. At the time it was the longest hearing the tribunal had heard. 

Expert witness after expert witness spoke about the value of te reo Māori to this country. In a report on the hearing by the Waitangi Tribunal released in 1986, te reo was presented as the mauri o te mana Māori, highlighting its importance to the survival and dreams of revitalisation of the Māori culture. One expert witness unnamed in the report was quoted as saying if the language is lost, man will be lost too, as dead as the moa. “Ka ngaro te reo, ka ngaro tāua, pērā i te ngaro o te moa.”

2022 marks 50 years since the Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament (Image: Ministry of Culture and Heritage, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)

One theme was common among almost every expert witness: the tireless effort it had taken to keep the language alive in the face of sometimes apathetic and other times antagonistic government policy. Education was the key focus, with many witnesses recalling their time in school during the first quarter of the 20th Century where they were physically punished for speaking te reo inside the classroom and on the playground. When Sir James Hēnare was challenged with the notion that there was no official policy to this effect, he retorted: “The facts are incontrovertible. If there was no such policy there was an extremely effective gentlemen’s agreement!” 

The anger and despair documented by Māori students extended also to Māori teachers. June Te Rina Mead, a teacher with more than 35 years of experience, challenged the examination board for the New Zealand School Certificate of artificially controlling the number of students who were allowed to pass Māori Language exams. In 1983, two years before the hearing was held, only 38 out of every 100 children who sat te reo Māori were allowed to pass. Meanwhile, 80 were allowed to pass French and German.  

The almost total absence of te reo Māori in broadcasting was another major point of contention as well as a law that prevented Māori using their own language in the Courts if they were able to speak English regardless of their relative proficiency or comfort in either language. One of the lesser-known prejudices highlighted in the hearing was the official policy of pepper potting whānau Māori throughout the suburbs so that they would be scattered, thereby further encouraging the assimilation of Māori and further loss of the language. 

The report released from the Waitangi Tribunal considered not only what was presented in the hearing but common objections from the public which included the notion that te reo was destined to die out and any effort to reinvigorate it would become a point of division between Māori and non-Māori. The former was countered with many examples of minority languages that have survived in countries like Canada, Wales and Finland. Examples of other countries were used again to challenge the latter, the tribunal noting it has been well-documented internationally that imposing one language on another is more conducive to divisive hostility than allowing two languages to exist side by side.

Finally, noting the sharp decline of te reo Māori over the 20th Century, with as few as 5% of Māori schoolchildren fluent in te reo in 1975, the tribunal reported that the crown had failed to live up to its responsibility to protect te reo as a taonga, translated by Sir Hirini Moko Mead as a valued custom or possession, under article two of te Tiriti o Waitangi. The tribunal concluded its report by making five recommendations to the crown:

  1. Legislation be introduced enabling any person who wishes to do so to use te reo Māori in all Courts of law and in any dealings with government departments, local authorities and other public bodies.
  2. A supervising body be established by statute to supervise and foster the use of the Māori language.
  3. An enquiry be made into the education of Māori children.
  4. Broadcasting policy be made to recognise and protect te reo Māori.
  5. Employees of the public service be bilingual, if necessary to their job.

As a direct result of the Wai 11 Māori Language Claim in 1985 and the report released by the tribunal in 1986, the Māori Language Act 1987 was passed into law confirming te reo Māori as an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand and establishing Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, then known as the Māori language Commission, to promote and raise awareness of the Māori language and Māori language issues. The success of this claim and the continued effort of Māori language activists like Huirangi Waikerepuru, who advocated for the language until he passed in 2020, has allowed te reo to flourish, with 30% of Māori reporting in 2022 that they are proficient speakers of the language. Kia kaha te reo Māori. 

This is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

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(Image design: Tina Tiller)
(Image design: Tina Tiller)

BooksSeptember 14, 2023

‘Unapologetically Māori’: The rise and rise of the Kupu Māori Writers Festival

(Image design: Tina Tiller)
(Image design: Tina Tiller)

Ngā Ringa Tuhituhi: Kupu Māori Writers Festival will take place September 17-23 in Rotorua. The Spinoff spoke to the organisers about the origins of the festival and the upcoming programme.

In 2021, writer and journalist Shilo Kino published an article for Newsroom with the headline, “Wanted: a writers festival beyond the white and privileged”. In the article Kino reflected on her experience of appearing at the Auckland Writers Festival where it was abundantly clear that the majority of the audiences were white. The following year, Ngā Ringa Tuhituhi: Kupu Māori Writers Festival emerged, offering a new festival in the landscape of writers festivals in Aotearoa and that much-called-for space for Māori writers and readers to come together. Kupu marks a shift in thinking around festivals and who makes them and who they’re for (a conversation that’s been burning and flaring for a while now both here and overseas).

Rangitihi Pene, chair of the Kupu Trust, describes the kaupapa of Kupu as one that “celebrates Māori writers from the past, present, and future; and aims to bring some of the best-known Māori writers from Aotearoa to Rotorua to share their experiences, insights and journeys.” This year’s festival includes Dr Anaha Hiini and Reikura Kahi leading discussions on the Māori language at Te Papaīōuru Marae; Dr Monty Soutar and Tā Pou Temara on writing Māori History at Tarimano Marae; a deep dive into “Everything I Know About Books” with Anahera Gildea and Michael Bennett at Te Aka Mauri, Rotorua Library; and a masterclass on Māori contemporary fiction with Coco Solid.

We asked Pene, Robyn Bargh (trustee and programme curator) Rafa Moreira (committee member) to tell us more about how it started and how it’s going, ahead of the second annual Kupu festival this weekend.

Kupu is nearly here, congratulations on year two! Can you tell us more about the origins of the festival, where did the idea begin?

Moreira: The Rotorua community has always dreamed of hosting a Māori literary festival, given its strong heritage in this domain. The idea took root within the walls of McLeods Booksellers, which came to fruition through a partnership between its former owners, their staff, and the broader book-loving community. The motivation for this project was the article published by Shilo Kino in 2021, where she expressed her sense of underrepresentation at literary festivals. Guided by the values in that article, we assembled a passionate tāngata whenua team to design and lead the festival activities, ensuring that tikanga is upheld in every aspect. Since its beginning, the festival has received an overwhelming response from writers and attendees alike, affirming that our direction was indeed the right one. As time progressed, the festival grew at a surprising rate, evolving faster than anticipated. It has now expanded its horizons to become an independent organisation, aiming not just at the local community but extending its reach beyond the initial borders.

Venues are important for festivals. Where does Kupu happen? 

Pene: We made a conscious decision to base the festival at both marae and the Rotorua Library. Marae were the most appropriate venue for the pōhiri, our night on mōteatea, early Māori writer Wī Maihi Te Rangikāheke of Ngāti Rangiwewehi (held on his marae in Awahou), Makereti (held on her marae at Whakarewarewa) and our Matariki night with Rangi Mātāmua (held in Rotoiti not his marae but one of his sources). 

Bargh: This year the Kupu Festival is being held at marae again for evening sessions on Sunday Thursday. This is more appropriate as some of these sessions are in te reo Māori and the kōrero is appropriate in this environment. However, the library is appropriate for the other sessions as it is the pātaka, the storehouse of many of these literary treasures.

You have an incredible line-up of writers, can you tell us about your programming process? How do you make your decisions?

Pene: At least six months prior to the Kupu Festival, we start meeting regularly and through a process of wānanga we come up with our programme. 

Bargh: Our theme is celebrating Māori writers – past, present and future so we try to ensure that our programme reflects this. 

The programme includes a range of art forms beyond words. Is that a thematic decision too? 

Pene: We take the broad view of Māori literature and include composers of mōteatea and kapa haka, storytellers, poets, screen and book writers.

You’ve had one festival already, in 2022. What was the response from writers? From audiences? 

Pene: We had wonderful responses from last year and positive vibes from writers for this year’s festival. 

Moreira: Some of the feedback included things like:

“Unashamedly and unapologetically Māori.”

“The festival has provided the rare opportunity to celebrate Māori writing and our impressive history in ways that resonate with us.”

“I rata nui au ki te whakatuheratanga o tēnei kaupapa ki runga marae, e ū ai ki ngā tikanga me ngā kawa… Ko te whakatairanga i tō tātou reo, te ahurea, me ngā ringa tuhi Māori.” 

Shilo Kino at Kupu Māori Writers Festival 2022. Photo supplied.

Have you made any changes from the previous festival for this current one? 

Pene: One major change concerns our kura or school programme. Instead of taking the writers around to the schools and kura of Rotorua over the time period of one week, we have decided on a one-day programme. Held at Te Pākira Marae, Whakarewarewa, the students will come for the day and be run through a series of workshops.

Bargh: The key theme is to inspire young Māori to become readers and writers.

What do you hope for in terms of the future of Kupu? What are the aspirations?

Bargh: Our aspirations are that Kupu Festival will continue to grow while retaining the same formula that has made it such a success.

The cost of living has affected budgets for live events; have you found this too?

Pene: Me mihi ka tika. We are grateful to our financial sponsors, government agencies such as MBiE and Creative New Zealand, but also the local Rotorua community, iwi and business sponsors.

Bargh: The Kupu Festival works well because it is a celebration of Māori writers in a Māori environment. There are increasing numbers of Māori writers working in different genres with different styles and they enjoy coming together to share those stories and ideas. Having the Kupu Festival in Rotorua works because the local community is supportive of the festival and the idea of Māori writers telling our stories. The schools are supportive as they see this is a way of encouraging Māori readers and inspiring young Māori writers. Sponsors are supportive as the festival is aligned with their own strategic goals of increasing Māori writers and promoting Māori success.

And the Kupu Festival is of interest to national and international audiences who are interested in Māori and indigenous storytelling. 

Ngā Ringa Tuhituhi: Kupu Māori Writers Festival is set to start with an esteemed pōhiri at Te Papaīōuru Marae, led by Tā Tīmotī Kāretu on Sunday, September 17 at 6pm. The full programme, tickets, and additional information about the festival can be found here.

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