I am not originally from New Zealand. But as a native indigenous from my own country where I am the minority, I strongly believe in not only retaining, but strengthening native indigenous language of the tangata whenua. The loss of language is a loss of culture. Colonisation has resulted in many losses and while we cannot turn back time, we can make the future better. As someone from a Polynesia-southeast asian background, we share similar worldviews and values of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, amongst others. I believe that the future of Aotearoa should be guided by and should embrace te ao Maori.