Opinion article by Stacey Shortall
This year’s theme for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is “Ake Ake Ake - A Forever Language” invites us all to celebrate te reo Māori as a living, breathing taonga (treasure) that will endure for generations to come. The theme carries some personal significance for me.
When I began work as a young lawyer in the late 1990s, alongside my role in the Rudd Watts & Stone litigation team, I worked in the Māori Practice Group that was led by (the late) Gina Rudland. Gina was a leading commercial lawyer, who also had been the first Māori woman president of Te Hunga Roía Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society). She was a huge support and inspiration to me, and I continue to miss her.
One of the early pieces of work that Gina involved me in as a young lawyer — given what I had learned in Canada studying for my LLM (on indigenous self-governance) — was about the “flora and fauna” claim known as WAI 262 that had been lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal in 1991. It would take twenty years before the Tribunal concluded its Wai 262 inquiries and released its first report (Ko Aotearoa Tenei) looking beyond historical grievances and towards the “future focussed” relationship between Māori and the Crown.
Among other things, the WAI 262 report provided a brief history of te reo Māori, including the decline in the use of the language from colonisation through to the 1970s and its subsequent revitalisation. Against that backdrop, the WAI 262 report made clear that:
“Te reo Māori is a taonga. It is the platform upon which matauranga Māori stands, and the means by which Māori culture and identity are expressed.”
“The survival of te reo Māori is no longer just of deep interest to Māori people — it is a matter of national pride and identity for all New Zealanders. Everybody wins when the Māori language thrives.”
Over a decade later, this year’s theme for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori aligns with these findings. But I worry about the changing environment in which the invitation to celebrate is made. For if te reo Māori is the platform, it needs to be planted on solid ground.
That ground feels less stable to me than I ever recall — corroded by attempts to require all public sector agencies to state their primary name in English, the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority), the repeal of co-governance reforms and the prospect of legislative reform of Waitangi Tribunal legislation. It also is impossible for me to ignore the corrosive impact of discontent surrounding the Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill, the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill, the bill to remove Section 7AA of the Orange Tamariki Act and the bill currently being drafted in response to the Court of Appeal’s decision in Edwards (which made it easier for Māori to claim customary marine title in the foreshore and seabed).
So while I certainly have this week been celebrating te reo Māori as a taonga, I also recognise that it cannot be taken for granted that our indigenous language will endure for generations to come. That outcome will require all of us to work together to achieve stability so that te reo Māori thrives. And we all win.
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