The MÃÂori language revival is a movement to promote, reinforce and strengthen the use of the MÃÂori language (te reo MÃÂori). Primarily in New Zealand, and also in places with large numbers of expatriate New Zealanders (such as Sydney, London and Melbourne), the movement aims to increase the use of MÃÂori in the home, in education, government, and business. The movement is part of a broader revival of tikanga MÃÂori (MÃÂori culture, cultural habits and practices) in what has been called the MÃÂori renaissance.
Until World War II, most MÃÂori people spoke MÃÂori as their first language. By the 1980s, fewer than 20 per cent of MÃÂori spoke the language well enough to be classed as native speakers. The causes of the decline included the switch from using MÃÂori to using English compulsorily in schools and increasing urbanisation, which disconnected younger generations from their extended familiesâÂÂin particular their grandparents, who traditionally played a large part in family life. As a result, many MÃÂori children failed to learn their ancestral language, and generations of non-MÃÂori-speaking MÃÂori emerged.
In response, MÃÂori leaders initiated MÃÂori-language recovery programs such as the kà Âhanga reo ("language nests") movement, which, beginning in 1982, immersed infants in MÃÂori from infancy to school age. In 1989, official support was given for kura kaupapa MÃÂoriâÂÂprimary and secondary MÃÂori-language immersion schools.
On 14 September, Te Wiki o te Reo MÃÂori (MÃÂori Language Week) celebrated 50 years having been established in 1975.
A government-sponsored initiative, , MÃÂori Language Week, has been celebrated since 1975 and is intended to encourage New Zealanders to support the language.
The MÃÂori Language Act 1987 was passed as a response to the Waitangi Tribunal finding that the MÃÂori language was a taonga, a treasure or valued possession, under the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Act gave MÃÂori official-language status, and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as in court. It also established the MÃÂori Language Commission (initially called Te Komihana Mo Te Reo MÃÂori but later renamed Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo MÃÂori) to promote the language and provide advice on it.
is a whÃÂnau (family) development and language-revitalisation initiative grounded in MÃÂori cultural principles and ideals. It facilitates the growth and development of mokopuna (grandchildren) through the transmission of MÃÂori language, knowledge and culture. The kà Âhanga reo movement operates from the MÃÂori philosophical world view and is principally guided by kaumÃÂtua (respected elders).
Individual kà Âhanga reo are autonomously run by their respective whÃÂnau, which consists of a "collective group of teachers, parents, local elders, and members of the MÃÂori community". While funded by governmental quarterly grants from the Te Kà Âhanga Reo National Trust, kà Âhanga reo often also charge additional fees to cover operational costs. These fees, determined by each whÃÂnau, are generally comparable to or less expensive than traditional child-care. Conducted entirely in MÃÂori, a kà Âhanga reo is an environment where 0âÂÂ6-year-olds, kaumÃÂtua and whÃÂnau spend time together talking, playing, praying and learning. Daily activities may take place anywhere that is safe and warm including marae (traditional community meeting places), converted homes or purpose-built centres.
Emerging in the late 1970s at the direction of kaumÃÂtua, kà Âhanga reo was an immediate and urgent response to the decline of the MÃÂori language and tikanga MÃÂori. Jean Puketapu and Iritana Tawhiwhirangi were among the early leaders when the first kà Âhanga reo was founded in Wainuiomata in 1982. Three years later there were over 300 operating. The success of kà Âhanga reo is such that they have been followed by the establishment of primary schools and secondary schools (kura kaupapa MÃÂori) where MÃÂori is the primary language of instruction. The role of MÃÂori language in education in New Zealand is enshrined in the Education Act 1989.
The kà Âhanga reo concept has led to other before-school initiatives in New Zealand that instruct in Pacific languages, e.g. Fijian, Rarotongan, Samoan, and Tongan and other countries adopting a similar concept. A notable example being Pà «nana Leo established in Hawaii to revitalise the indigenous Hawaiian language.
Kura kaupapa MÃÂori are MÃÂori-language-immersion schools.
Election campaigns by the MÃÂori Party often feature increased roles for the MÃÂori language. In the 2011 election, the party wanted to require that all secondary schools offer the language as an option to every student.