I tēnei rā kua 35 tau e whai mana ana te reo Māori hei reo ā-ture i tōna ake whenua, ka mutu, ki tā Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, kāore anō kia pūmau te ora tonutanga o te reo Māori.

"Kua okea te oke mō te reo Māori i ngā hapori puta noa i Aotearoa, mai i ngā tāone iti ki ngā tāone nui katoa. I te tau 1987 i puta i ētahi te whakatūpato kei noho wehewehe a Aotearoa i te reo Māori, heoi anō, ka taka te 35 tau, e whakakotahi nei te reo i a tātou," tā te Toihau o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, tā Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins.

"Mai i te 1 miriona tāngata i whai wāhi mai ki Ngā Wā Tuku Reo, ki te tini me te mano e waiata ana i te waiata ā-motu i te reo Māori ki te kēmu o ngā Ōpango, tae atu ki te hia rau tāngata e whai wāhi ana ki ngā kura reo e noho rūmaki ana i ia paunga wiki: he wāhanga te reo Māori o tō tātou tuakiritanga ā-motu i Aotearoa e hono ai tātou ki tēnei kāinga o tātou."

"Mō te iwi Māori, he wāhi nui tō te reo Māori ki tōna tuakiritanga. Ka kōrerohia e ia ngā kōrero o ngā whānau e tūhono ai tātou ki ō tātou tīpuna, ki Aotearoa hoki. E whai pānga ana te pakanga kia ora ai te reo Māori ki ngā whānau Māori katoa.”

Ko te rā nei hoki te 35 tau mai i te whakatuwheratanga o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, i whakamanahia ai hoki Te Ture Reo Māori. Ki tā Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins, i puta i Tatauranga Aotearoa ētahi raraunga whakahirahira i te wiki nei:

• Kua tata ki te kotahi o roto i te whā o te iwi Māori e kōrero ana i te reo Māori hei reo taketake, ā, kua 34 ōrau o te Māori e taea ana te kōrero te reo, ki tōna nei taumata.
• Ko ngā taiohi i Aotearoa ērā e para ana i te huarahi mō te matatau ki te reo, ā, kei te takiwā o te 40 ōrau o te hunga 15-34 te pakeke, kua nui ake i te ruarua noa nei ngā kupu, ngā rerenga rānei i te reo Māori.
• E toru i roto i te 5 o ngā kirirarau o Aotearoa e whakapae ana me mātua whakaako te reo Māori i ngā kura tuatahi.

"Engari he pakanga tonu kei te haere: me 1 miriona rawa te hunga kōrero Māori a te tau 2040 e ora ai te reo mō ngā whakatipuranga e piki haere ana. Ko ngā pēpi ka whānau i tēnei rā, ko rātou te reanga pakeke tuatahi ka kōrero i te reo Māori a te tau 2040, nō reira me kakama."

Kei te rewaina e Te Taura Whiri tētahi whakahau e whakamānawa ana i ngā kirirarau o Aotearoa kia hopukina e rātou ngā tini kōrero mō te pakanga o te reo Māori, e ora ai ngā kōrero mō te reo Māori, haere ake nei.

"E minaka ana mātou kia hopukia e ngā whānau me ngā hapori ngā kōrero mō te reo Māori e hira ana ki a rātou. Ki te hiahia rānei ngā tāngata ki te tiri tūmatanui: kei a rātou tērā whakatau. Ko te mea nui kē ia kia hopukia, e mōhio ai ngā whakareanga e piki mai ana ki te take me te āhua tonu i okea ai te oke e ora ai te reo Māori. "I tēnei marama tonu, ka rewaina e mātou tētahi rārangi wātaka me tētahi pae tukutuku e āhei ai tēnā me tēnā ki te tiri i ō rātou kōrero mō te pakanga o te reo Māori: tēnā, kia tuwhera ngā kanohi!

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori: Mane 12 o Hepetema – Rātapu 18 o Hepetema 2022

Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori:  12pm Wenerei 14 o Hepetema 2022

E 50 tau ki muri, i te tau 1972, i whakatakotoria te Petihana o Te Reo Māori ki te whare pāremata, e karanga ana kia tiakina ka mātua whakaakona te reo Māori i ngā kura. Ko taua rā te 14 o Hepetema i tohua ko Te Rā o te Reo Māori, nāwai ka huri ki Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. I ngā tau e rua kua pahemo, i te tūhoetanga o te rā i te 14 o Hepetema, kua neke atu i te 1 miriona ngā kirirarau o Aotearoa i whai wāhi mai ki te whakanui i Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori