Te Petihana Reo Māori celebrates milestone with Wellington exhibition

Wednesday, 14 September 2022

On September 14, 1972, Rawiri Paratene was among the group that presented the Māori language petition to Parliament. The petition became the starting point for a significant revitalisation of te reo. (First published September 9, 2022.)

An exhibition featuring the original Te Petihana Reo Māori (the Māori language petition) opened at the National Library on Wednesday morning, marking 50 years since it was first presented to Parliament and starting celebrations in the capital.

On September 14, 1972, rangatahi from Te Reo Māori Society, Ngā Tamatoa and the NZ Federation of Māori Students/Te Huinga Rangatahi o Aotearoa, who wanted te reo Māori to be taught in all schools, presented a petition to Parliament. It was signed by 30,000 people across Aotearoa from both Māori and tauiwi.

Fifty years later, the veterans were joined by more than 100 mana whenua, politicians and rangatahi to open the “Tōku reo, tō ohooho” exhibition at the National Library’s Te Puna Foundation Gallery in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. The exhibition features the original petition alongside photographs of significant moments along the journey of te reo Māori developing to an official language of Aotearoa.

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An exhibition featuring the original Te Petihana Reo Māori opened at the National Library on Wednesday morning.

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Ngā Tamatoa and the Te Reo Māori Society presented the Te Petihana Reo Māori to Parliament in September 1972.

Artist and Tūhoe kaumātua Tame Iti, who was involved with Ngā Tamatoa in the 1970s and recently installed a series of artworks titled I Will Not Speak Māori for Te Wiki o te reo Māori, said there had been “amazing” changes in the five decades, but people still needed to continue to promote the language.

“I think that we came a long way,” he said. “[The public] hear about it and see the work that we’re doing and so people are coming to have a conversation about that.

The presenters lined up for a photograph half a century later.

“People should not be afraid of the language that belongs to them. It can be part of how we use English, and all languages are important.”

Alexander Turnbull Library Māori curator Paul Diamond said it was “striking” to see how many tauiwi signed the petition.

“Even though September 1972 can seem like a different world to the 2022 of Māori language education and other initiatives, the coming together of Māori and non-Māori to support te reo Māori remains an inspiration for later generations,” he said.

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said Te Petihana was a “brave and courageous campaign” and he was pleased to see progress across the motu to have one million reo speakers by 2040.

“It was a petition that was born from groups of people who were not supported but not just Pākeha society but our own society,” he said. “You see not just only Pākeha, ethnic minorities are making an effort with the language.”

For Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, it took three generations of her family to bring te reo back to their whakapapa, from the language “beaten out” of her grandmother when she was a young girl at school, to her great-grandson, Davidson’s nephew, getting top marks at te reo rangatira at school.

She said there was more that Aotearoa could do to promote te reo, such as finding more teachers to teach te reo.

“There is a big gap today on Māori experts and teachers to be in education,” she said.

The exhibition is open until December 3.