The Māori Language Commission, Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori is commending Waikato-Tainui tribal executive Te Arataura for their ambitious plan to have 80% of their descendants speaking the Māori language by 2050.
Te Taura Whiri Chief Executive, Ngahiwi Apanui says, “It is so exciting, refreshing and heartening to hear groups step up and take serious action to significantly increase the number of fluent Māori speakers in their community.
Their vision is an ambitious one, especially when their current membership is more than 60,000 but big dreams breed passion and passion breeds action, so I have every confidence they’ll achieve it.
Saving te reo is going to require the support of the multitudes and we are looking forward to working on that with iwi, leaders from all walks, the public and private sectors."
Since 2001, The Commission has given away more than $2.38 million worth of funding to whānau, hapū and iwi in Hamilton, Te Kuiti, Tokoroa and Raglan to run reo classes and promote the language at events.
Around 33 groups from the Waikato have received Ngā Tohu Reo Māori language awards from the commission over the years.