Why I dread Cook Islands Māori Language Week | E-Tangata

https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/why-i-dread-cook-islands-maori-language-week/

I know tupuna are always with us, but language is the vehicle of cultural transmission. Consequently, language is critical to a person’s health. That’s why we celebrate language weeks throughout the year. And I don’t just mean Pacific languages weeks. There are others too. New Zealand Sign Language Week, New Zealand Chinese Language Week, Hindi Language Week.

10 points · 1 comments · view on lemmy.world

1 Comments

BlueEther@no.lastname.nz · 4 pts · 24d

A sad read: "I’ve been to Cook Islands Māori languages week events where the speaker has said: “You’re not one of us if you can’t speak te reo.”"

What we did in NZ to suppress te reo is a true shame on our government of the time. Unfortunately it seem like there is still that mindset in many people here - including some in our current government.

Every little thing we can do to support te reo (both for Aotearoa and the Cooks) is good