Cook Islander working to revive dying language

Tuesday, 19 September 2023

Language and culture advocate Tauraki Rongo believes Cook Islanders need to be connected to their land, no matter where they live, so they can help protect it.

He’s on a mission to revive the language among those living in New Zealand, visiting the regions to introduce Pacific people to his Tatou Language Class.

Rongo is the language and culture lead for the Cook Islands Development Agency of New Zealand and produces the Cook Islands programme at the Pacific Media Network.

He says it wasn’t until he moved to New Zealand 10 years ago that he realised the state Cook Islands Māori was in.

“I was fortunate. I grew up in the language and culture,” he said.

Te reo Māori Kūki' Āirani, Cook Islands Māori is listed as a Unesco Oceania endangered language.

Surveys show that only 9% of the more than 80,000 Cook Islanders living in New Zealand speak the language and Rongo is pushing the Cook Islands government to find out what that percentage is back home.

“I believe they’re not paying attention to this,” he said.

Rongo has started the language courses in Gisborne and Invercargill with plans to visit more regions.

It includes lessons in colonisation and migration, and traditions, and because there are six different dialects in the Cook Islands, Rongo focusses on teaching people how to write the sound.

In the past, lessons would focus on the dialect spoken in Rarotonga, but “most of the parents here are from the outer islands,” Rongo said.

Keeping Cook Islands language and culture alive is a family affair for the Rongo kōpū.

Rongo’s father was a language specialist with multiple books published, while his brother runs a not-for-profit helping to connect youth to their routes.

The brothers encourage Cook Islanders in New Zealand to visit the islands to see for themselves why protecting them is so important.

Many living in Aotearoa had debts back home, which they had used their homes or land as security for, Rongo said.

Banks were selling these loans to foreigners, he added, and he feared that would see much of the land in the hands of strangers.

Rongo is working with community leaders to roll the language lessons out.