Caption:This week marks 50 years since the Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament, spearheaded by 22-year-old Hana Te Hemara.Photo credit:Ministry of Culture and Heritage (URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/maori-language-petition-1972)Newspaper clippings from the early 1970s when the Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament.SUPPLIEDHana Te Hemara, Ngā Tamatoa and the Te Reo Māori Society spent two years gathering the petition’s 33,000 signatures. They door-knocked, gathered signatures in shops, bars and on factory floors.RNZ / Angus DreaverAn image from Tame Iti: I Will Not Speak Māori Exhibition. Iti had to write ‘I will not speak Māori’ as punishment for speaking his native tongue. “Everything was geared up for how to be a Pākehā,” he says.Troy BakerThe Māori language petition was delivered to Parliament in 1972 asking for recognition of te reo Maori.RNZ / Angus DreaverHana Te Hemara (also known as Hana Jackson), called for the active recognition and teaching of te reo Māori in schools.SUPPLIED/ I am Hana Facebook page
