Its a bout inclusion for me. I have always been proud to be Maori. Te Reo helps me connect to a greater part of my culture, my family and us as a people. It widens my circle to include people with similar beliefs and a way of looking at the world. I was raised in a time when Maori was not cool. I feel i have missed so much by bowing down to the social norms of the time...i felt that I was literally a drop in the ocean against it and now i feel like i was swimming in the wrong ocean.
We were an advanced and articulate nation prior to colonisation, and i feel if we were all allowed to know this and accept it, we'd think very differently about ourselves...why wouldn't i rather speak the language of those tipuna rather than the ones who've done their best to divide, conquer and destroy us to exploit our land and people? When i was young i knew few Reo speakers...now they are everywhere, they are growing and they have many faces ...I want to speak with them and i want my children to be able to speak to them
Comments