I love māori language week! As a pākehā kiwi, it's extremely important to me to learn & kōrero te reo māori. Not only the language but also educate myself about tikanga māori, for myself, my tamariki & my future generations. I have bought my pākeha son up bilingual, he knows more māori names for places, animals and everyday things then he does English so for māori language week I am upping his māori vocab & have made new flashcards for him with more difficult words and some new phrases. And for bedtime, I am telling him a different māori legend each night. Tonight was the story of Waitaiki & Poutini , as we live on the West Coast and he was actually named after the Arahura River. His father is also a Jade carver & has a huge connection to pounamu & the Awa, so my son Awa extremely enjoyed the story. Especially because it's a huge passion of his dads! Nga mihi :)