Rawinia Higgins

Guest writer

Professor Rawinia Higgins (Ngāi Tūhoe) is the Māori Language Commissioner at Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori) of Victoria University of Wellington. She was 2018's Wellingtonian of the Year for education.

Image: Tina Tiller

About all that ‘Māori nonsense’ on the radio

Most of us don’t see te reo as 'Māori nonsense', but as one of this nation's unique treasures – and thank goodness for that.

By Rawinia Higgins | 28th April, 2022

In our times of need Aotearoa turns to te reo Māori (Image: supplied)

Kia kaha: The intergenerational struggle to preserve te reo Māori

It takes one generation to lose a language and three generations to restore it.

By Rawinia Higgins | 12th September, 2021

We’re not being too PC about te reo Māori. We’re worried

We’re not being too PC about te reo Māori. We’re worried

lNew Zealand’s first language is endangered. We can’t afford to normalise misspelling and mispronunciation any more than it already is, writes Māori Language Commissioner Rawinia Higgins.

By Rawinia Higgins | 16th January, 2020

Image: Youtube

Mangling Māori names is no longer ‘the way it is’

While we can’t ever get our voices entirely away from the way we were brought up, we have a choice.

By Rawinia Higgins | 31st December, 2019

Image: Youtube

Marcus Lush is on the right side of history. Mangling Māori names is no longer ‘the way it is’

While we can’t ever get our voices entirely away from the way we were brought up, we have a choice.

By Rawinia Higgins | 29th October, 2019