This week is the 50th anniversary of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. To celebrate, we’re running a three-part series looking at the past, present and future of te reo Māori in Aotearoa. Today, Māori language commissioner Rawinia Higgins assesses where te reo Māori is at in the present day.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, I invite all New Zealanders to reflect on how far we’ve come and the deep roots of the movement. Generations of resistance, revival and resolve have kept the language alive, despite efforts to silence it.
This milestone is more than a celebration. It’s a reminder that te reo Māori was never lost, it was actively hidden. Now – like a well-loved garden returning to bloom – it’s seeking out sunlight to keep on growing.
Recently, I’ve seen signs of the growing garden being aggressively pruned back: the downgrading of te reo Māori on official documents like passports; moves to enshrine “New Zealand” over “Aotearoa”; and public institutions quietly removing Māori names from their signage, communications or branding. These actions may seem minor – even trivial – but they’re deeply felt. Te reo Māori is not ornamental, it is essential – it is a living part of this land, our history, and our unique identity.
There was a period when the adoption of Māori names in public spaces happened as a kind of gifting where agencies or organisations would graciously accept this taonga as part of their identity. But considering kupu Māori as gifts implies they are a nice-to-have, a cherry on top, something benevolently bestowed rather than inherently rightful. If names are just nice-to-have, then you can tuck them away when you want – erase them from existence – and it won’t make a difference to how things fundamentally work.
The fact is that Māori names belong here. They are part of the rich history of this whenua. The act of restoring Māori names – not simply adding them, but putting them back where they belong – is part of the normalisation, not the politicisation, of te reo Māori.
Using Māori language in public life is not about branding or a trend – it is about normalising a language that has its roots in 6,000 years of intrepid travel. Aotearoa was the final stop on the epic Pacific migratory journey. In these newly discovered (much colder) islands, new language was developed to articulate the new environment – the topography, weather patterns and resources. Revitalising those names is an act of restoration, regeneration and part of our collective responsibility under te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The insistence that removing Māori names and words is only an effort to keep communication clear for everyone by sticking to one language is not only frustrating, it is indicative of antiquated monolingual attitudes and behaviours. It sends a signal of power, because whoever has the power to name things has the power to control, define and normalise their own reality. These actions are an active retreat from the vision of a country where te reo Māori is a normal language of everyday life – not just for Māori, but for everyone.
The latest data tells us public support for te reo Māori remains high, with 74% of New Zealanders valuing te reo Māori and believing it to be an important part of our culture. Positive societal attitudes are critical to language revitalisation, but we can’t simply wish for te reo Māori to be a forever language – we must commit to it, invest in it, have a plan and move together.
Te reo Māori doesn’t exist because of government support. It exists because of whānau, hapū, iwi and allies who refused to let it go. It exists because people taught it, spoke it, whispered it and sang it into the ears of their mokopuna – even when it was not safe or celebrated. It exists because it’s homegrown and rooted in this soil.
That’s the thing about a well-tended garden – it can survive even when the weather turns because its roots run deep. As with all seasonal growth, te reo has flourished when appropriate care has been taken by the gardener – whether that gardener is a community or a government. While a seasonal frost of rhetoric may try to cut it back, if you look closely, you can see it’s having the opposite effect. Just as compost feeds the soil, these moments of challenge have reinvigorated people’s passion – kura reo are full, wānanga are oversubscribed and new speakers are emerging every day. The growth is rising.
A legacy of Te Pētihana (the Māori Language Petition), the seeds of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori were planted in 1974, sprouted in 1975 and grew from whakapapa stretching back centuries and across oceans. Fifty years on, we are harvesting the fruits and planting for the next season.
Te reo Māori is a legacy crop. It thrives because we are committed to tending it – not as a rare species, but as a native one. A language of this place, the people and the future.
We have always been gardeners and we’re still here. We know how to grow.
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