About two fifths of our informants had experienced general negative attitudes or been punished at school for speaking Maori. Punished at school for speaking Maori had caused one man to lose his ability to speak Maori and now, he said, there is no incentive to even try to speak it because of his isolation from other Maori speakers in the community. Another woman told us her mother had been beaten at school for speaking Maori and so had never taught her children the language, saying English was more important. When her mother tried to teach her Maori later, this person and her brothers and sisters just laughed, so now they know no Maori.
Waikato | South Waikato | 1970-75 | 5% of Māori children can speak te reo. (1970-75) | Story is by tangata whenua
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