Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori WITT Style

New Zealand is officially celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), which kicked off on Monday 13 September.

Māori Language Week is about remembering the presentation of the 1972 Māori Language petition to parliament and celebrating te reo Māori as the indigeous language of New Zealand.

Peter de Rungs Kaiārahi Mātāmua Chief Advisor said that the normalisation of te reo Māori as an everyday language is important.

"When we kōrero in te reo Māori that is the voice of our tūpuna" he said.

WITT has held daily activities for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori on campus this week, beginning each day with a 9am karakia led by different groups around campus. We made sure this was available for students and kaimahi (staff) to play from their own devices or participate together as a class. 

On Tuesday at 12pm WITT's ākonga and kaimahi gathered for a socially distanced Covid friendly Māori Language Moment. The moment is a nationwide event and is a celebration of te reo Māori as an indigenous language within Aotearoa.

Participants across New Zealand were encouraged to join in any way they wanted from singing, poetry, paddling waka ama or sharing karakia. This year WITT students and kaimahi sang 'Pepeha' by Six60. The moment was filled with laughter as kaimahi learnt actions led by Kaitakawaenga Tania Piki so we could kanikani as we sang. We also ran a kahoot quiz via zoom for students to test their knowledge of te reo Māori.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is an important event in the WITT calendar each year as we continue to build our vision to support the revitalisation of te reo Māori. Kaitakawaenga Allana Prestney who has been part of the WITT whānau for many years said that as te reo Māori is the indigenous language of Aotearoa, Māori Language week should be the pilot for an everyday celebration of the language.

"It's been great to see WITT beginning each day with a karakia each morning this week" she said.

She also recognised the growth within WITT around Te Reo Māori, "Māori greetings have become one of the universal greetings I frequently hear around campus, and it's great to see bicultural signage around." 

Check out our Māori Language Moment HERE