Richard Benton

Guest writer

Dr Richard Benton is a New Zealand scholar of Celtic ancestry who sounded the alarm on the decline of te reo Māori in the 1970s. His landmark language surveys with Nena Benton laid the groundwork for Māori language revitalisation and the Wai 11 Tribunal claim. A lifelong advocate for te reo, Benton went on to lead major Māori research centres and later founded Te Māra Reo, a living garden near Taupiri connecting the languages and plants of the Pacific.

Members of the first meeting of the Maori Education Foundation in 1961. (Image: Māori Education Trust). (Additional design: The Spinoff).

Fifty years of fighting for te reo Māori

Half a century after documenting the decline of te reo Māori, a leading researcher reflects on how close we came to losing our language – and what must happen now to keep it alive.

By Richard Benton | 13th October, 2025

Guest writer

Richard Benton

Fifty years of fighting for te reo Māori

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