Over half the adults spoken to had suffered some sort of punishment or general discouragement at school for speaking Maori and a quarter had actually been physically punished. This had often played a large part in many parents ' decision not to teach their children Maori. "I didn't want them to go through what I went through" or "I didn't want them to have the same troubles I did for speaking Maori so I only spoke English to them" were typical comments from these people.
Te Tai Rāwhiti | Gisborne | Matakaoa-Waiapu | 1970-79 | 5% of Māori children can speak te reo. (1970-75) | Story is by tangata whenua
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