Te Pae Kōrero | Our Why

To honour my tipuna, to teach my mokopuna to ensure our history is never lost again, for myself as I journey towards receiving my moko kaue.

Since the age of 8 I have been surrounded by our culture, however I could never fully grasp our language. This is my time to stop sitting on the sidelines and do the things that are important to me, and learning our language is high on the list.

Te Reo Maori is a huge part of my cultural identity and my heritage to claim! The Te Reo journey may include Whakapapa, karakia, waiata, whakatauaki, hononga. It may incite a sense of belonging and being proud. In our Reo is beauty and playful witty humour My journey is set to honour our tupuna

My biggest regret is not knowing my own beautiful language. It was always present when i was growing up especially with our nanny but when we got our own home, mum & dad never taught us & when i took it up at high school the teacher was from the east coast so imagine a ngapuhi/ tainui going home & speaking eastcoast maori back in those days. I can laugh about it now but boy those days of getting my ears screwed were bloody sore.

Shared language creates connection and understanding. Kia kaha te reo Māori 🙌

Learning te reo maori has been a massive journey. Sometimes testing, but mainly rewarding. Reo has helped me on my journey of whakapapa aswell. Being a whangai baby, I had a huge feeling of Ko wai au? No hea koe Erana? And with these questions, came the start of my journey into Te ao maori. I am currently signed up to TWOA doing my papa reo course, and I will carry that on until I am speaking fluently to my tamariki. Te reo maori is also important for myself, for my tamariki! Knowing who they are, where they whakapapa from, not feeling left out when being spoken to in reo maori aswell. I am a proud maori women, who looks forward to seeing where our language ties us all in the future! ! Kia kaha te reo maori Aotearoa 🤍❤️🖤

Mo aku mokopuna

Learning, utilizing, and excelling in Te Reo Māori adds a sense of real belonging to who we are as tangata whenua. This helps shape the value of our identity, and encourages Aotearoa to be the best indigenous country! Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori

He Kaiako ahau, as a teacher I want to be part of a movement to make reo compulsory in kura our tamariki are the future and they should be speaking the language of our whenua

Mō āku mokopuna. . .

Toitu Te Tiriti, I am Maori Proud to be Maori.

See past moments

Explore past campaigns including our Māori Language Moment: The largest, single celebration of te reo Māori in history.

Tirohia