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Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Signed Feb 6 1840. Went around Aotearoa, around 500 chiefs signed.

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A cohesive website tracing Te Reo Māori in Aotearoa.

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A history of te reo Māori

Explore the journey of te reo Māori from the 1200s to the present day.

Today, te reo Māori is recognised as an important aspect of New Zealand culture and identity. But things were not always so hopeful for the language. The journey for recognition faced significant challenges and was only achieved through the determination, strength and unity of Māori. Without supporters and learners, the kaupapa would not have been a success.

Part of the journey was taking the WAI11 Te Reo Māori claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, which contributed to te reo Māori being made an official language in 1987.

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A history of te reo Māori Explore the journey of te reo Māori from the 1200s to the present day. Today, te reo Māori is recognised as an important aspect of New Zealand culture and identity. But things were not always so hopeful for the language.

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The Declearation of Independance and The Treaty of Waitangi.

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Video- WAI11 claim and the future of Te Reo Māori

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Video- WAI11 claim and the future of Te Reo Māori

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WAI11 The Māori Language Act

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Public history talk: Te mana o te reo Māori

This talk shares the tales and insights of the WAI11 claim and whakaaro about the future of te reo Māori.

Introducing Te mana o te reo Māori speakers Sir Justice Joe Williams (Ngāti Pūkenga, Waitaha and Tapuika), Piripi Walker (Ngāti Raukawa) and facilitator Dr Vincent Olsen-Reeder (Ngā Pōtiki a Tamapahore, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi Te Rangi, and Te Arawa). The speakers are introduced by Te Tai Project Manager, Sharnmaree Cassidy (Ngāpuhi, Te Whanau-ā-Apanui).

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Public history talk: Te mana o te reo Māori

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This talk shares the tales and insights of the WAI11 claim and whakaaro about the future of te reo Māori. Introducing Te mana o te reo Māori speakers Sir Justice Joe Williams (Ngāti Pūkenga, Waitaha and Tapuika), Piripi Walker (Ngāti Raukawa) and facilitator Dr Vincent Olsen-Reeder (Ngā Pōtiki a Tamapahore, Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāi Te Rangi, and Te Arawa).

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TE REO MĀORI-Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish talks about her trails and tribulations with Te Reo Māori and Aotearoa.

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New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga

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Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish, interviewed by Wena Harawira on behalf of Manatū Taonga for the Treaty Settlement stories project, 23 July 2018.

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Te reo Māori is the language of the Māori people of New Zealand. It was made an official language of New Zealand in 1987. In 2013, 21.3% of Māori and 3.7% of the total population could speak te reo Māori.

Māori is a Polynesian language, part of the Austronesian language family. There are three major dialects - eastern North Island, western North Island and South Island Māori.

Pākehā encounter te reo

The first Europeans in New Zealand had to learn Māori to communicate. Some married Māori women and had children who were bilingual.

Māori was not a written language before Europeans arrived. Early spelling was varied, but became more standardised from the 1820s. Missionary William Williams published a Māori dictionary in 1844. Writing in Māori became important as Pākehā tried to buy Māori land. Missionaries translated the Bible for their converts.

English spreads

As European settlement increased, there were more English speakers. Māori communities mostly continued to speak Māori. In the later 19th century laws specially affecting Māori were translated into Māori, and interpreters were appointed to Parliament.

Missionary schools had operated in Māori, but from 1847 children had to be taught in English. In the 19th century traditional oral literature was written down and Māori-language newspapers were published.

Language decline

By the early 20th century more Māori spoke English as well as Māori. Over the 20th century the education system promoted English, many Māori men died in the world wars, and urban migration increased contact with Pākehā. English became the main language spoken in Māori homes, and many Māori saw it as the language of success and advancement.

New initiatives

In the later 20th century Māori studies courses were set up in universities. Some students became aware of issues such as land rights and language loss. In 1972 over 30,000 people signed a petition asking for te reo Māori to be taught in schools.

In the 1970s some high schools began teaching te reo Māori. From 1982 kōhanga reo (pre-school language-learning nests) were set up. Kura kaupapa and wharekura (Māori-language schools) also opened.

Māori-language radio stations began broadcasting in 1987. Māori Television was set up in 2004 and its Te Reo channel started in 2008.

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In 1986 the Waitangi Tribunal recognised te reo Māori - the Māori language - as a taonga (treasure), and a year later it was made an official language of New Zealand. Efforts to revitalise te reo include full-immersion schools (kura kaupapa) and pre-school kōhanga, as well as Mā...

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8min kōrero about Native Schools Act, how that effect the reo and the groups that made a change.

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As New Zealand celebrates Te wiki o te reo Māori, or Māori Language Week, a Māori studies lecturer has shared the significant history of how the week came to be.

In 1867 the Native Schools Act came into force in New Zealand, a plan to phase out native schools.

Professor Vini Olsen-Reede says the act didn't ban te reo in schools, but it did incentivise the teaching of English if a school wanted funding from the Government.

He says the effect of that on Māori was quite complex, which included corporal punishment.

"It means that a lot of students in those native schools at the time were subject to lots of different kinds of treatment."

Many Māori children were punished for speaking their first language at school, which then led onto the next generations missing out.

"Some of them might have been physical or more mental forms of abuse in those schools," says Olsen-Reed.

"There aren't any records of people actually recording their corporal punishment acts on children for speaking Māori, which kind of lends itself to the idea that people probably knew it was wrong. They probably knew it wasn't necessarily allowed but they were doing it anyway, which is quite sad."

Fast forward to 1972, and the Māori language petition was delivered to Parliament asking for active recognition of Te Reo Māori.

The Māori activist group, Ngā Tamatoa, alongside the Te Reo Māori Society initiated the nationwide petition, which had over 30,000 signatures and became the starting point for a significant revitalisation of te reo.

It was delivered on September 14, 1972, which a few years later became Māori Language Day, and later Te wiki o te reo Māori.

Olsen-Reed says it was a massive amount of signatures for that time and was an immense amount of work.

"The petition sparked a whole range of people to gear into action and I think that's one of the things that is most inspiring about that time.

"It inspired absolute generations of people to do anything they could to revitalise the language, both Māori and non-Māori.

"I think the movement that we have today and the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you is a real tribute to the work that they've done and continue to do."

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Māori studies expert shares 'inspiring' history of how Māori Language Week came to be in Aotearoa

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As New Zealand celebrates Te wiki o te reo Māori, or Māori Language Week, a Māori studies lecturer has shared the significant history of how the week came to be. In 1867 the Native Schools Act came into force in New Zealand, a plan to phase out native schools.

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Government could be sued over Te Reo Māori decision.

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Her Pākehā father wanted her to be educated in English. Her Māori mother wanted her to be educated in te reo.

The case ended up in the High Court, where a judge's use of the Māori Language Act to help determine the young girl's future could now send ripples across the whole of New Zealand.

The decision implied "an overarching obligation on any government decision maker about how they provide for te reo", according to public law specialist Baden Vertongen.

That means that the Government could be leaving itself open to legal challenge under the act, if Crown entities don't support the revitalisation of te reo Māori.

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The Crown has created an obligation for every government department to deliver their services in te reo Māori, says Vertongen. "It has set that obligation. It's tried to give itself a bit of breathing room about how it gets there, by limiting how much of a push they can get, or how much of a challenge people can take.

"The extent to which they can be pushed to achieve that will be tested at some point."

The High Court judgement last year followed an appeal from the Family Court. Stuff can't identify the whānau involved in the case for legal reasons, but one of the concerns raised was what school the child should attend.

The girl started at a kōhanga reo, then went on to a full immersion kura kaupapa and was proficient in te reo Māori. But when her parents split, they argued about her schooling. Her father felt excluded by the use of te reo Māori at the kura. Her mother supported the girl's schooling.

A Family Court judge ordered the child to attend a religious school with little to no te reo Māori education. It was appealed to the High Court where Justice Hinton moved the girl to another school where she is receiving instruction in both English and te reo Māori.

"It is perhaps surprising in 2017, especially given the Māori Language Act, that it is not Government policy that all primary schools teach te reo as a compulsory subject," Justice Hinton noted in her judgement.

Vertongen says Justice Hinton's comment shows how the thinking of the judiciary has changed over the last 150 to 170 years. "We've gone from cases in our courts that talk about the treaty being a legal nullity and Māori being savages, to a judge now saying she can't believe te reo Māori is not compulsory in our education system," he says.

Although the judge's statement has some legal standing, it was how she overlaid the new Māori Language Act onto the principles relating to the child's welfare that has wider implications for not only the justice sector but all Government departments, Vertongen says.

"That comment is saying the effect of the Māori Language Act is now to create an overarching obligation of any government decision maker about how they provide for te reo."

The Māori Language Act 2016 replaced the older version that made te reo Māori an official New Zealand language in 1987. The main difference between the two pieces of legislation is around the structuring of organisations to support revitalisation and the development of strategies.

But Vertongen warns the issue for the Government is in the departments of the state guide within the act. Although there is a clause stating the guide doesn't create a legally enforceable right for any person in a court of law, Vertongen believes it's still arguable and can be tested.

"So if you were a judge looking at those provisions you would probably come to the conclusion the act isn't intended to cancel itself out," he says. "There has to be some sort of obligation on departments to provide their services in te reo Māori.

"The legal uncertainty is around what effect that has on Crown agencies now and how you could enforce it if you thought it wasn't being done properly."

Last year, 615,295 students, nearly 80 per cent of pupils across all schools in New Zealand did not receive any te reo Māori education.

Just as the school population has increased every year since 2000, so has the number of students who are not being taught any te reo Māori at school.

Vertongen says the Education department could be challenged on how it sets the curriculum. Under the Māori Language Act, he argues the Crown would have to justify why it wouldn't make te reo Māori compulsory. "They wouldn't be obliged to make it compulsory, but they would be obliged to consider it. You would have to justify why you wouldn't."

The Minister of Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, sighed with frustration when asked about the legal warning. "Māori language is a living language and it should be engaged with. If we're engaging with te reo Māori through a legal lens then we've probably missed the plot," she says.

Although she has supported making te reo Māori compulsory in schools in the past, the Labour Government is refusing to. She says the biggest hurdle they face is not having enough teachers who could provide quality te reo Māori education, especially in mainstream schools.

Speaking in te reo Māori, the Minister argued a legal fight is a waste of time. "Ko te mea nui me te tīmata. Mehemea ka waihotia tēnei hei taupatupatu kei ngā kooti arā kei te ture ēra āhuatanga maumau tāima tērā wahanga. That's why we're trying to find a different way," she says.

"If we take a legal view, look at the legislation and argue the legislation that's not doing te reo Māori one ounce of difference. Yes government departments have the opportunity to do more than they've ever done before. But let's map out what that looks like and track, as each department does its bit, what the total benefit can be to see our language flourish in our country."

Two new strategies were created in the Māori Language Act, a separate Crown and Māori response to te reo Māori revitalisation. The Minister's department, Te Puni Kōkiri, has been developing the Crown strategy called the Maihi Karauna. Te Mātāwai is the legal entity created to represent Māori and iwi, and will deliver the Maihi Māori component of the act.

Te Mātāwai chief executive Te Atarangi Whiu agrees with Vertongen there is an obligation on the Crown and agencies to follow through on the intent of the act, which is the revitalisation of te reo Māori.

"I think testing it legally is the last resort," says Whiu. "There is a willingness by the Crown to give genuine intent to the act.

"This act is groundbreaking. Rather than test the legality of the act let's push boundaries. Let's go into unchartered territories, let's be innovative and have open, free and frank transparent discussions with the Crown."

But Vertongen says the warning can't be easily dismissed. "A lot of government agencies might have just not really thought in a lot of detail about how this might affect them," he says. "The question is the extent to which someone can wrap them over the knuckles if they're not."

He warns judicial review proceedings could be taken against any Crown entity if it hasn't considered all of the relevant factors it's obliged to when making the decision on how it delivers services in te reo Māori.

"I think the push back you'd get from departments would be, 'we're only obliged to do this as far as reasonably practicable'," he says.

"For example, it's just not practical for us to have a full immersion prison. But it's a useful argument to have, because the majority of the prison population is not Pākehā."

But Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui thinks Government departments have been proactive.

Apanui has been surprised that over 40 organisations in the past year have been in touch about how to provide te reo Māori services, including Treasury, the State Services Commission and the Auditor General.

"There is nothing in the act that compels the Government, agencies or organisations to do anything compulsorily for te reo Māori," says Apanui. "It's about encouraging. There is no compulsion from the new act to tell people you have to do this and you have to do that for te reo Māori, no."

He says language plans may provide a way for departments to stave off any potential legal claims.

"Organisations are not bound to have a language plan but if they're serious about discharging their obligations to te reo Māori, they should have one."

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Why the Government could face legal challenges over te reo Māori

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Her Pākehā father wanted her to be educated in English. Her Māori mother wanted her to be educated in te reo. The case ended up in the High Court, where a judge's use of the Māori Language Act to help determine the young girl's future could now send ripples across the whole of New Zealand.

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2 min clip in Māori about some people involved.

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This clip from Te karere highlights the passage of the Māori Language Act 1987. The item notes that there were three main parts of the act: to make te reo Māori an official language, to allow te reo to be used in legal proceedings and to establish the Māori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori) to advocate for te reo. Minister for Māori Affairs Koro Wetere notes that the chiefly language of the ancestors, te reo Māori, has had its mana recognised in New Zealand. He also refers to the founding commissioners of the Māori Language Commission, Timoti Karetu, Katerina Mataira, Anita Moke, Kingi Matutaera Ihaka and Ray Harlow.

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This clip from Te karere highlights the passage of the Māori Language Act 1987. The item notes that there were three main parts of the act: to make te reo Māori an official language, to allow te reo to be used in legal proceedings and to establish the Māori Language Commission (Te ...