Te Reo Māori: From banned, to 'official', to a 'taonga' and beyond

Sunday, 11 September 2022

On August 1, 1987, te reo Māori became “an official language of New Zealand”. But what does it mean to be “an official language”? Glenn McConnell explains.

Status as an “official language” has given weight to efforts focused on revitalising te reo Māori, language advocates such as Te Taura Whiri chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui say, but there are now calls for more tangible measures to better protect and grow te reo.

As Aotearoa marks 50 years since Te Petihana Reo Māori was presented to Parliament, reo advocates are taking stock of progress made to revitalise the nation’s first “official language”.

**READ MORE:

* Race relations commissioner calls for compulsory te reo Māori in schools

* High time to make te reo a core subject in our schools

* Te reo Māori should be a part of every New Zealander's identity

**

The Government’s role in the protection of New Zealand’s other official language, New Zealand Sign Language, is also under review. Last week, Disability Issues Minister Poto Williams commissioned a nationwide consultation on the New Zealand Sign Language Act, which made NZSL an official language in 2006.

The question is – what does it actually mean for these two at-risk languages to be “official”, and what obligations and rights come with officialdom?

How New Zealand first gained an ‘official language’

The passing of the Māori Language Act 1987 was a “golden moment” for those who had been pushing for decades for better recognition of te reo Māori, says Ramiri​ Te Hemara, a reo advocate who joined her sister, Ngā Tamatoa activist Hana Te Hemara, in petitioning the Government in 1972.

Te Petihana, which carried 30,000 signatures, called for classes on Māori language and culture to be offered at schools.

The teaching of te reo Māori in schools continues to be a struggle. And it took 15 years, following the 1972 Māori Language Petition of Ngā Tamatoa and the Reo Māori Society, for Parliament to pass an act acknowledging it as an “official language”.

The Māori Language Act was short. It introduced a right for anyone to be able to speak te reo Māori in court and established the Māori Language Commission – now known as Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

That act was repealed in 2016.

Why repeal the Māori Language Act?

Former Māori Affairs minister and Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell completely reshaped the law which recognises the importance of te reo Māori to Aotearoa.

Previously, the law said only that it was “hereby declared to be an official language of New Zealand”. But what did that mean?

He changed it, in Te Ture Mō Te Reo Māori 2016, to say that the Government now acknowledged te reo as a “taonga” and that it had an obligation to protect it, as per Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Flavell says his act legislated a clear requirement of the Crown.

“The Crown has a responsibility to protect all taonga and we firmed this up – in the new language act – to show that the definition of a taonga includes the Māori language,” he says.

“There are Treaty responsibilities on the Crown but on the ground there was minimal action from the Crown to do anything to protect [te reo Māori] up until the changes and developments of this act.

“It made it very clear, the Crown must protect this taonga and also, there should be opportunities for the community through Māori organisations to … protect their own languages in their own way.”

The new act set up ways to fund communities to enact their own programmes to revitalise local dialects of te reo Māori, as well as legislating a requirement for ministers and Māori to meet to discuss the future of te reo.

Six years later, Flavell questions if the Government is taking those hui seriously – but he says progress has been made.

Is there a right to access te reo Māori?

Fifty years ago, those who backed Te Petihana had a clear request. They said Māori language classes should be offered to all tamariki.

Whether children today have that right is no simple question.

Te Ture Mō Te Reo Māori did not mention, directly, the role of schools and the Government has not issued a formal verdict to “make te reo compulsory”.

But Flavell says there is a legal requirement for the Government and its agencies to be doing their utmost to foster the growth of te reo Māori.

“As a right, every child has access to learn English. Schools are teaching many languages and yet for years te reo Māori, unfortunately, has been treated as a poor second cousin,” he says.

“Absolutely, of course, every child should have access to their language.”

The future for te reo in schools

Apanui, the boss of Te Taura Whiri, says it is currently unfeasible for every school to be teaching te reo Māori in person.

“In order for it to be a subject in schools, you need teachers who know that subject. We just don’t have them at the moment,” he says.

Given the “huge teacher shortage”, with Apanui estimating the country needs thousands more teachers competent in te reo Māori, he says schools today should be focused on introducing more everyday te reo into all classes.

But if the Ministry of Education does not succeed in upskilling and hiring more teachers, then Flavell believes they would be failing in their duties to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ture Mō Te Reo.

He says there has been huge underfunding of te reo and Māori medium education for decades, which has created the kaiako (teacher) shortage we see today.

Apanui agrees. From dealings with the Ministry of Education, he says there are structural issues with how the Government hires teachers. One of the biggest issues he sees is that teachers just are not valued enough.

Given the high demand for people fluent in te reo, he says the Government has not been able to attract enough bilingual teachers because they are not paying them properly.

“It surprises me that people who perform an important role, pivotal to the future of our country, are paid so poorly,” he says.

How far we have come

While there are still challenges to overcome in truly revitalising te reo Māori, Apanui is optimistic. He says there has been palpable social change in recent years, with reports to the commission showing the majority of New Zealanders want to learn more te reo Māori.

The demand is there in enthusiasm. The issue is supply.

Ramiri​ Te Hemara, who recalls open hostility to the petition back in 1972, says it has been a long time coming but the fact her grandchildren can now go to kōhanga and kura kaupapa Māori is huge.

It is something she had hoped for her own children, and could have only dreamed about when she was at school. Back then, she says te reo Māori was not even allowed to be spoken. It has been 50 years of great change, she says, but there is more to do.