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Māori (Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi] ⓘ), or te reo Māori ('the Māori language'), commonly shortened to te reo, is an Eastern Polynesian language and the indigenous language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand.
The Māori language, also known as te reo Māori (pronounced [ˈmaːoɾi, te ˈɾeo ˈmaːoɾi]) or simply Te Reo ("the language"), has the status of an official language. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as being closely related to Cook Islands Māori , Tuamotuan and Tahitian .
- 775,836 (2018 census)
- approx. 8,000 (2000)
Māori culture. A wharenui (meeting house) at Ōhinemutu village, Rotorua, with a tekoteko on the top. Māori culture ( Māori: Māoritanga) is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Eastern Polynesian culture.
- One Land, Many Dialects
- Māori: A Common Means of Communication
- Kōrero Pākehā
- A Language Lives
- The Lure of The City
- Seeds of Change
- The ‘Kia Ora’ Controversy
- Legislating For Change
The Māori language evolved in Aotearoa over several hundred years. There were regional variations that probably widened because local populations were relatively isolated. These variations had their origins in the fact that the ancestors of modern Māori came by canoe from different villages and islands in eastern Polynesia. Māori had no written lan...
For the first half-century or so of European settlement, the Māori language was a common way of communicating. Early settlers were dependent on Māori for many things and had to learn to speak the language if they wished to trade with them. As more settlers arrived, the need for written communication in Māori grew. Missionaries first attempted to wr...
Pākehā were in the majority by the early 1860s and English became the dominant language of New Zealand. Increasingly, te reo was confined to Māori communities that lived separately from Pākehā. Most Pākehā did not understand that the Māori language was an essential expression and envelope of Māori culture, important for Māori in maintaining their p...
Despite the emphasis on speaking English, the Māori language survived. Until the Second World War most Māori spoke te reo as their first language. They worshipped in Māori, and Māori was the language of the marae. More importantly, it was still the language of the home, where parents passed it on to their children. Political meetings, such as those...
The Second World War brought about momentous changes for Māori society. With plenty of work available in towns and cities, Māori moved into urban areas in greater numbers. Before the war, about 75% of Māori lived in rural areas. Two decades later, approximately 60% lived in urban centres. English was the language of urban New Zealand – at work, in ...
From the 1970s many Māori people reasserted their identity as Māori. An emphasis on the language as an integral part of Māori culture was central to this identity. Māori leaders were increasingly recognising the danger that the Māori language would be lost. New groups with a commitment to strengthening Māori culture and language emerged in the citi...
Increasingly, Māori words were heard on radio and television, and read in newspapers. The first Māori television programme, Koha, was broadcasting from 1980. Some announcers began radio shows or news bulletins by saying, ‘Kia ora’. But there was some controversy. In 1984 national telephone tolls operator Naida Glavish (of Ngāti Whātua) began greeti...
Efforts to secure the survival of the Māori language stepped up a gear in 1985. In that year the Waitangi Tribunal heard the Te Reo Māori claim, which asserted that te reo was a taonga (treasure) that the Crown (government) was obliged to protect under the Treaty of Waitangi. The Waitangi Tribunal found in favour of the claimants and recommended a ...
The Māori language revival is a movement to promote, reinforce and strengthen the use of te reo Māori, the Māori language. Primarily in New Zealand , but also in places with large numbers of expatriate New Zealanders (such as London and Melbourne ), the movement aims to increase the use of Māori in the home, in education, government, and ...
Kura kaupapa Māori are Māori-language immersion schools (kura) in New Zealand, where the philosophy and practice reflect Māori cultural values with the aim of revitalising Māori language, knowledge and culture. Kura kaupapa Māori are established under the Education Act (1989).
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (English: Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to revive the Māori language.