A poll on stuff.co.nz the other day asked readers whether they would be making an effort to use Māori during this week, as it is Māori language week. The options were, YES a little, YES but I won’t go out of my way, NO I’m not good with languages, NO I don’t care. This struck me as odd, because Māori is one of the three official languages of New Zealand, and has been since the passing of the Māori Language Act in 1987.
This divide between the use of languages is startling when you consider only 4.2% of New Zealander’s can speak Māori fluently compared to the 98% who speak English. Compared to other bi-lingual countries like Canada, we are horribly apathetic in our teaching of our official languages. Once a year we roll out Maori language week, Salient publishes an issue predominately filled with Maori content, and Shortland Street drops in more Maori words.
So far we’ve had 5 letters to the editor complaining that we published the Maori issue. Most of them start with that back arching phrase “I’m not a racist but…” what should be inserted after that bears little resemblance to what the authors actually write.
What should follow that phrase is: I am too lazy/ignorant/racist to learn a basic knowledge of Te Reo and accord Maori culture the same respect that I do my own language/culture. Sadly none of the people own up to that.
The fact is this years Te Ao Marama issue was two thirds in Te Reo, and some parts even had translation! Te Reo is an official language of New Zealand, and although this does not mean you have to speak it, it does mean that you should give it the respect it deserves.
To come back to the stuff poll, we have are radars skewed slightly here. They’re asking if we’re going to use Te Reo this week, and this week only, when we should be using it, and celebrating it’s use more often than seven days out of three hundred and sixty-five. We should be educated in Te Reo and the people who speak it should not be afraid of others failure to understand them.
So I am down with Te Reo and you should be too.
Tena koutou Mihinui kia katoa
Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Te Henui te awa
Ko te whanau Wood te hapū
Ko Ngati Pakeha te iwi
Ko Seasnake te waka
Ko James Jackson Wood tōku tupuna
Ko Ngamutu te papa kainga
Kie Te whanganui a Tara ahau e noho ana
Ko Jackson tōku ingoa
No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou, katoa