While they were all for the teaching of Maori in schools, people were very concerned that tribal differences and dialects be maintained. This comment was often made in other areas also. Some people said that fewer people were now speaking Māori in their area than they used to, and while parents were still speaking Maori among themselves, more of them were using English with their children. Twenty-one of the 31 informants said that they had been punished for speaking Maori while at school. This did not stop them from teaching their eldest children the language. In many families, however, it seemed that their younger children were likely to use English, perhaps because the older children were already able to speak English as well as Maori after going to school.

Source: NZCER