He taonga te reo Māori. As the indigenous language of Aotearoa, te reo Māori is very special. As a Pākehā, I am committed to learning, speaking and sharing as much Māori language as I can. I acknowledge the mamae my tūpuna caused and how their colonisation of our country took te reo Māori from those who whakapapa to it. I believe that I can be a respectful Tiriti partner and become a better ancestor to the next generation, by doing all that I can to learn, normalise, celebrate and kōrero Māori i ngā wā katoa, i ngā wāhi katoa hoki. I have spent decades learning and unlearning but I still have a long way to go to get to fluency. Participating in Mahuru Māori is one way I can share my love of te reo Māori with my tamariki and my community.
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