Thousands march in Te wiki o te reo Maori hikoi

Marchers on the Te wiki o te reo Māori hikoi. Photo: RNZ / John Boynton

Thousands of people have marched through central Auckland for a hīkoi supporting te wiki o te reo Māori.

Local kura kaupapa students, teachers and members of the public joined the hīkoi, which made its way down Queen St to Aotea Square around lunchtime today.

Robert Pouwhare said the strong turnout reflected a big change of attitude towards te reo Māori.

Mr Pouwhare remembered when he helped to present the Māori language petition to Parliament in 1972.

"It was a massive, massive resistance on the part of the government, part of the public - now it's changed it's so wonderful."

Robert Pouwhare at the hikoi. Photo: RNZ / John Boynton

Mr Pouwhare said to see students owning their language made him proud and he believed the future of the language was in good hands.

"Some people say our language is dying or teetering on the verge of extinction - I don't believe that, I don't believe that at all."

Te Kāreti o Pukewiwi (Lynfield College) teacher Jennifer Leauga brought her Māori class to the hīkoi.

"I think it's an awesome cause I think especially bringing it to Tāmaki Makaurau for the first time this year."

The hikoi wrapped up in Aotea square. Photo: RNZ / John Boynton

Ms Leuaga said it was important to develop a model of learning the language that celebrated Māori people and te reo.

"[So] it's something that our kids can look forward to studying and being excited about - rather than discouraging it which I suppose happened 20 or 30 years back."

Ricky Steiner and Rangi Timutimu also showed up to Aotea Square to support the hīkoi.

"We enjoyed everything here - we were just on our lunch break so it's good to come out and just see it all," Ms Timutimu said.

Ricky Steiner (left) and Rangi Timutimu (centre) were in Aotea Square to support the hīkoi. Photo: RNZ / John Boynton

Ms Steiner did not grow up learning te reo Māori and said she felt a bit out of the loop not understanding what was going on at the hīkoi.

"I wish I could speak it and understand so I knew what everyone was talking about - my nan speaks it hard out."

Another Auckland te reo hīkoi will be held tomorrow at Manukau.

The hīkoi for te wiki o te reo Māori took place in central Auckland. Photo: RNZ / John Boynton

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1 comment

Looks quite

Posted on 13-09-2018 21:21 | By R1Squid

ugly and threatening to me. What is hoped to be achieved. The Chinese will still speak their native language as will the Punjabi's, Korean's, the Hindi, the Dutch, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and all of the other ethnic groups that is the nature of this country. May be the focus should be on Esparanto...


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