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National | Ngāti Whakaue

Ngāti Whakaue host inaugural kura reo ā-iwi

"Implanting the Language within your Soul", is the theme of the inaugural kura reo for Ngāti Whakaue which runs for the remainder of the week.  The initiative is being run by Te Taumata ō Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake.

2014 is the year of excellence for Ngāti Whakaue.  They held their inaugural tribal gathering last month and this week, they are holding their first kura reo.

Kingi Biddle says, “The main reason for this school is to increase the number of people from Ngāti Whakaue speaking Māori.”

Over 60 participants have registered to learn their tribal dialect, which includes unique words and sayings of Ngāti Whakaue.

Te Wakamauriri Paul says, “This is really an awesome initiative to help Ngāti Whakaue, so we should all support this in the years to come.”

“In the past, the first language of Ngāti Whakaue was Māori, now, there is only a few who are knowledgeable in the language, so we need the language to come back to Ngāti Whakaue,” says Mr Biddle.

Currently, Ngāti Whakaue has a population of 7,311.  The number of people on the Ngāti Whakaue tribal register is 3,000 adult members.

The hope is that every Ngāti Whakaue member is exposed to the Māori language in order for it to flourish.