1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Hedda. 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 2: I'm Susan Nordquist and for Chelsea Daniels. And this is 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 2: the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 2: Zealand Herald. It's t Wiki or teal Maori Language Week. 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 2: Wikiwi's are encouraged to have a go at terel. Whereas 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 2: the language was once on a pathway to extinction, it's 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 2: now flourishing as people flocked to learn it. But a 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 2: change in government last year saw restrictions placed on how 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 2: the public service usesterrel, one of many policies that has 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 2: been seen as an attack on Maldi rights. Today on 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 2: the Front Page, we are joined by aut professor doctor 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 2: Ali Henry to discuss some of those policies and how 13 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: we can still celebrate old Tuto's indigenous language. 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: Ala. 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 2: This year's Malori Language Week comes a little under a 16 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 2: year since the Coalition government was sworn in. As part 17 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 2: of that coalition agreement between National and New Zealand, first 18 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 2: government departments had to revert to putting their English names first, 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 2: and it also required public service departments and Crown entities 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 2: to communicate primarily in English. What do you make of 21 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 2: this change? 22 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 3: Well, it's been one hundred and eighty four years since 23 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 3: we signed Tinnity or White Jongy. So this is not 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 3: the first time that a government of New Zealand has 25 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 3: tried to suppress the Maori language. In many ways, many 26 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 3: would argue that this has been going on for decades, 27 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 3: if not generations, But this is a new iteration of 28 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 3: that same strand of thinking. I believe that is tied 29 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 3: to a broader issue to make fundamental changes to the 30 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 3: founding Document of our nation which envisaged partnership between Tungata 31 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 3: Fenua and tongue to tidity. So I see it as 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 3: part of a broader campaign to negative impact on Mary, 33 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 3: not just to the l Maori. 34 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 2: So, in your view, is the government trying to suppress 35 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 2: the language. 36 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 3: I don't think it's supposedly a whole of government approach, 37 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 3: but because of the particularities of this coalition, there is 38 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 3: certainly a party act which has been trying to impact 39 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 3: on treaty principles. Remember back in two thousand and eight, 40 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 3: Rodney Hyde proposed a similar bill in a less conducive 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 3: environment about removing from government legislation the requirement to take 42 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 3: tetinity into consideration with all legislations. So this has been 43 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 3: an ongoing project for a particular political party that is 44 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 3: now very powerful in the current coalition, woke. 45 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 4: Virtue signaling and mary place names for government departments with 46 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 4: target says. In New Zealand First Leader Winston Peter's launched 47 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 4: his campaign for the twenty twenty three election, it told 48 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 4: supporters an attacked church in East Auckland that it was 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 4: time to take the country back and. 50 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 5: In New Zealand First, we will change all the local 51 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 5: virtue signing names of every government department back to English. 52 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said on the campaign 53 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 2: trail that this policy was not an attack on the language. 54 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 2: It's an attack on the elite virtual signalers who have 55 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 2: hijacked the language for their own socialist means. How do 56 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 2: you interpret a statement like that. 57 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 3: There are so many strange statements in there, coming from 58 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 3: a man who in decades past has actually been a 59 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 3: very strong supporter of Maori development, Maori people, Maori revitalization. 60 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 3: So one has to wonder where that is coming from 61 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 3: as a particular philosophy. But this ongoing notion's perpetuation of 62 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 3: an idea that somehow there is a Maori elite flies 63 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 3: in the face of all. 64 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,839 Speaker 1: Of the actual facts. 65 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 3: Marii are more likely to die earlier, Maori are less 66 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 3: likely to own a home, Maori are more likely to 67 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 3: be incarcerated. Mary are less likely to have tertiary education. 68 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 3: So I'm really wondering where this teeny tiny group of 69 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 3: elitd that Winston Peters talks about. 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: It sounds a bit like they're mainly his friends. 71 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 2: Okay, this policy it even saw a Justice Minister, Paul 72 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 2: Goldsmith intervene to remove words like altero from an official 73 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 2: invite for Matariki that was sent to an Australian counterpart. 74 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 3: Minister. 75 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 4: Quite hey, why did you ask officials to take Alto 76 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 4: and Malti greetings out of these Martariki invites? 77 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: Well? As as I recall, it was. 78 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 4: In relation to sending an invitation to an Australian minister, 79 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 4: and I didn't think he needed a lot of terreo 80 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 4: in his invitation because he's in Australian. 81 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, of all time, the scandal of the century, 82 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: I would have thought. 83 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 2: Does that seem like a step too far to you? 84 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 3: Well, I think that is absolutely extraordinary. In a year 85 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 3: when the Leader of our Commonwealth, King Charles was quite 86 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 3: happy to use the phrase alter or New Zealand in 87 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 3: his statement of commiseration to the king Eytongue at the 88 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 3: loss of King E two hated. So if King Charles 89 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 3: is comfortable with it, I'm not terribly sure why a 90 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 3: New Zealand government should be uncomfortable with the idea of 91 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 3: us being alter. 92 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: Or New Zealand. 93 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 3: And, as I say frequently, if we actually did change 94 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 3: our name to Alta or New Zealand, do you know 95 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 3: what we'd get to come out before Australia at the Olympics. 96 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: Now, wouldn't that be fun? 97 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 2: That's a very good point, thank you, Ella. Do you 98 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 2: think the Coalition is undermining the growth of the language 99 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 2: with these views? 100 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 3: Let's start by the fact that the language almost became 101 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 3: extinct because of government policy, and it was Maui, it 102 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 3: was communities. It was Ewe Fano Hapu who began the 103 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 3: tiny little language nests in the late seventies and the 104 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 3: early eighties, which have finally been converted into a specific 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 3: Maori education. Could a copapa Marii education system, which we 106 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 3: know works extraordinarily well for Mardi people, but more importantly, 107 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 3: the numbers of people New Zealanders who are enrolled in 108 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 3: todeal Maori courses Maori and non Maori. Shows that this 109 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 3: language has been taken to heart by a significant majority 110 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 3: of people in this country. And we hear it every 111 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 3: night on the news, and we hear it every day 112 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 3: when people refer to those ministries that are supposed to 113 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 3: be known by their English names, but we ordinary New 114 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 3: Zealanders choose to keep on using those tonal names. Shows 115 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 3: that this latest battle against our language may not be successful. 116 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 2: Are we still seeing that interest from across somewhat for 117 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 2: learning the language. 118 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 3: Well, I think we've had three extraordinary events this year. 119 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 3: We had the Hui Amort, which the King Echangueill called 120 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 3: earlier in the year, in which tens of thousands of 121 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 3: people came out around the country about, you know, protesting 122 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 3: about these very pieces of legislation. Then we had a 123 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 3: White Tungi Day, which I was so grateful to be 124 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 3: at for the whole week, and you know, on the 125 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 3: last day it was estimated that fifty thousand people were 126 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 3: at White Tongi and at least half of those were 127 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 3: not Maudi, and they were proudly carrying bags and wearing 128 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 3: t shirts saying we stand with Maudi. 129 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: I was in the political tent. 130 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 3: When you know the Japanese group, and the Indonesian group, 131 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 3: and the Chinese group, and the Sikh group and the 132 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 3: Irish group, you know, all of these other cultures who 133 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 3: understand the importance of culture and identity and language and 134 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 3: feel that enriches not impoverished as a nation. 135 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: They were the ones. 136 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 3: And then, of course we saw the outpouring of grief, 137 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 3: most recently at the tongue hunger for KINGI to hate 138 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 3: her and amwortately the positive energy that came about with 139 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 3: the coronation of the new Aliki Nui. So I believe 140 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 3: genuinely that this language is alive and well in the 141 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 3: hearts and minds of many many New Zealanders, most of 142 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 3: whom might be Maui, but a growing number who have 143 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 3: children and grandchildren who go to school and learn a 144 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 3: Hakka and awayata and Akutakia. And it doesn't matter about 145 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 3: their ethnicity, because that thing is what makes them unique 146 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 3: and distinctive in the world. So this language is flourishing, 147 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 3: despite ravages by a government hell bent on taking away 148 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 3: that success. 149 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 2: It must be quite heartening to see this interest in 150 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 2: the language, given the repression of tenel in the past. 151 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: I am so heartened. 152 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 3: I mean, I am part of that generation who my 153 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 3: parents were beaten savagely, were part born at the very 154 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 3: beginning of the last century, and they wanted to protect us. 155 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 3: They gave it the most English sounding names they possibly could. 156 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 3: They tried really hard not to speak the language at home. 157 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 3: They did that to protect us because they genuinely believed 158 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 3: that was the only way to save our people. Moving forward, 159 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 3: it's my children's generation and my grandchildren's generation that are 160 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,439 Speaker 3: making a difference because they are the ones who are 161 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 3: embracing all of their ethnicities. They are one hundred percent Maui, 162 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 3: one hundred percent Dalmatian, one hundred percent Irish. It is 163 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 3: a very racist notion that you can put a blood 164 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,239 Speaker 3: quantum on culture and identity. 165 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 2: Some of the worst racism that you've experienced in your life. 166 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 3: Well, I'm seventy, so you know I've been around through 167 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 3: a bush of stuff. I mean, I was born in 168 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 3: the fifties in a small town in the far North 169 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 3: where I didn't meet a white man until I went 170 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 3: to school to ahi part of Native school, and he 171 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 3: was the principal, and you know, my parents would walk 172 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 3: down the streets of Kaitai, and when a white man 173 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 3: and woman came along, they would moved to the side, 174 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 3: because we had all inculcated the idea that we were 175 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 3: inferior and that we had to get out of the 176 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 3: way of the white man and the white woman. And 177 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,119 Speaker 3: then I moved to the city where came from Kaitaia 178 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 3: to New Lynn, where my father worked in the factory 179 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 3: and my mother the tanneries, and my mother worked across 180 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 3: the road at the potteries. And I found out I 181 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 3: was brown. Who knew up in Kaitai because we were 182 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 3: all the same color. I found out I was poor. 183 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 3: I found out that I couldn't go to my friend's 184 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 3: house because I was a dirty mary. You know, so 185 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 3: you inculcate that stuff as a small child, and it 186 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 3: has the potential to break you. I am very fortunate, 187 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 3: and education played an enormous role in that change in 188 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 3: my thinking and therefore the thinking of my entire far 189 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 3: no far nui. I was one who said that can't 190 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 3: be right. We can't be this insignificant. You know, the 191 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 3: people I know are beautiful and warm and kind. Why 192 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 3: does everybody hate us? And the fact that in the 193 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 3: last fifty years that has transformed, that has become a norm. 194 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 3: You stand end up in front of a hakka of 195 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 3: five hundred school students, or you watch the all Blacks 196 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 3: and you your heart fills with pride to be a 197 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 3: new Zealander. I just watched the team at the Palace 198 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 3: meeting King Charles and singing a beautiful wiater. These strengths, 199 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 3: these contributions we are making through our culture and identity 200 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 3: cannot be changed by pieces of legislation. 201 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 2: Muli Language Week started a few days after the latest 202 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 2: developments in the proposed Treaty Principal's Bill. The bill was 203 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: discussed at Cabinet last week, but it seems to be 204 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 2: caught in this quagmire between act who are pushing the 205 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,359 Speaker 2: bill and National with Prime Minister Chris Luxon already indicating 206 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 2: he won't support it beyond a first reading. Are you 207 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 2: concerned about how this conversation could go between now and 208 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 2: this supposed point where it's killed off. 209 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 3: Even if this bill is killed off as it goes 210 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 3: through Parliament, And it seems that maybe the case, what 211 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 3: it is done is created an environment that has encouraged 212 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 3: increasing levels of race hatred. And I'm using that term, 213 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 3: and I know it's a strong term, but we are 214 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 3: seeing it and you and the media would also be 215 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 3: hearing about it in terms of the gates of anger 216 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 3: and frustration are opened by pieces of legislation like this, 217 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 3: and what David Seymour says is supposed to be beginning 218 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 3: a positive conversation maybe aboard, it's actually becoming a groundswell 219 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,559 Speaker 3: of negativity. And I worry about that because I genuinely 220 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 3: believe as a nation, over the last fifty years, New 221 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 3: Zealand has become known internationally as being a leader at 222 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,839 Speaker 3: working with its indigenous people, at building a culture that 223 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 3: unites our diverse groups of nationalities. We're known for this internationally, 224 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 3: and legislation like this is going to have an enormously 225 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 3: negative impact, I believe on that image that we hold globally. 226 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: You know, this is a force for good. 227 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 6: This is a positive initiative. Far from changing or diminishing 228 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 6: the treaty, it actually embeds it in legislation, and far 229 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 6: from reducing rights so mariti it actually generalizes and strengthens them. 230 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,560 Speaker 2: Why is it so important to revitalize the language. 231 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 3: I think a culture is maintained by its language. 232 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: It is the most important thing. 233 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 3: I mean, you and I are here speaking in English, 234 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 3: and this is a language that has been impacted by 235 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 3: every other culture. Half the words we speak are either 236 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 3: French or Latin or Greek. 237 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 2: You know. 238 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 3: I mean the language stays alive because it is spoken 239 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 3: because as it has cared about and ours almost died, 240 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 3: and if it had a part of Maori identity would 241 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 3: have died with it. The fact that it has been 242 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 3: revitalized and strengthened, not just by Maori, shows that it 243 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 3: has relevance. Words like farno have come into being to 244 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 3: mean much more than just mum, dad and three kids. 245 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 3: Being able to have a porphany when you start a 246 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 3: new job, and feeling that sense of connection, attending a 247 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 3: tonguey hunger where grief is allowed to be in outpointing things. 248 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 3: These are things that Maori culture and identity have brought 249 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 3: to New Zealand society, and what's more, they add to 250 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 3: our brand. There are tourists that come in their hordes 251 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 3: from all all over the world to experience Maori culture 252 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 3: and so what we bring is not just a language, 253 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 3: not just a people, but a part of our brand. 254 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 3: As you can see on every single plane that air. 255 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 3: New Zealand flies around the world with one of our 256 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 3: most ancient symbols, the quardu on it. So what is 257 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 3: good for Maudi is good for New Zealand. What is 258 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 3: good for Mali culture is good for the New Zealand economy. 259 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 2: It's Maori language Week this week. How can people celebrate. 260 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 3: I love the fact that during to a ky or 261 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 3: toel Maudi, I can go into places where I ordinarily 262 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 3: wouldn't and the storekeeper will go Curda, or people will 263 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 3: say Curda on the streets or morderner. You don't have 264 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 3: to be a fluent speaker of Todel Maudi. That is 265 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 3: a very special gift. But you can be a user 266 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 3: of the language. You can be somebody who says, this 267 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 3: is something that makes me different. 268 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: I have my own life. You know. 269 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 3: Most New Zealanders, now, because we have such a diverse population, 270 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 3: are already multi lingual. They already speak the language of 271 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 3: their homeland and English and are quite happy to add 272 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 3: a third because it helps give a deeper understanding of 273 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 3: the names of the places and the history and that 274 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 3: the culture, and so those little acts of saying Kurda 275 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 3: are as important as being able to stand up and 276 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 3: be part of the man who cordia or speech. There 277 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 3: are competition that our young folk had last week. As 278 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 3: far as I'm concerned, it's about embracing language and seeing 279 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 3: that it adds to who and what you are, regardless 280 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 3: of your ethnic identity. 281 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 2: So saying kyorda can help people adopted into their lives 282 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 2: and spread the language. What are some other things they 283 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 2: can do? 284 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 3: Well? We all acknowledge that, as I said, the importance 285 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 3: of farno, and so you have schools who create little 286 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 3: farno groups and support teams. You know, there are words 287 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 3: in the Maui language like kaitiaki tanga. Now there's an 288 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 3: interesting word to be a guardian, to be a steward 289 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 3: of our mother the earth. Kaitiakitanga is woven into legislation 290 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 3: that protects our country from mining exploitation. Isn't it interesting 291 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 3: that a piece of language like that is trying to 292 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 3: be expunged from that legislation that is protecting our country 293 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 3: from mining exploitation. 294 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 2: Ala, you were speaking about how people learning the language 295 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 2: can help in other parts of society too. Can you 296 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 2: speak to that. 297 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 3: Well, I think it's not so much about learning the language, 298 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 3: but it's about enhancing identity. And I see this because 299 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 3: I work at Auckland University of Technology. We ran the 300 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 3: classes where a number of very prominent non Maori media 301 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 3: journalists Jennifer Ward Leland, Jack Tay and guy On Espiner 302 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 3: all came and did their classes up at AUT. So 303 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 3: I see the faces of those people who are going 304 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 3: into these classes and the relationships that are formed out 305 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 3: of going on this journey together. So I think it's 306 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 3: actually about strengthening our identity as New Zealanders. I mean 307 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 3: the very word that non Maori used to describe themselves kiwi. 308 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 3: It's a Maori word. And I shall remember that bloke 309 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 3: you put the signs up going ewei versus ewe, and 310 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 3: I was interviewed with them. I said, well, thank you 311 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 3: for still using a Maori word to describe yourself, even 312 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 3: though you're anti Mary. I mean, we don't even realize 313 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 3: how much the language and culture have permeated our society 314 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 3: until we go elsewhere and see that they don't do 315 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 3: the things that we take for granted in this country 316 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 3: because of the weaving together of Maori and British and 317 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 3: every other culture that now forms the society that. 318 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 1: We share Namihi nui. 319 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us. 320 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: Ala Elder Nummi. 321 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You 322 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 2: can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverageet 323 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 2: inzet Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page is 324 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 2: produced by Ethan Sells Dan Goodwin as the sounder engineer. 325 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 2: I'm Susie Nordquist. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio 326 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 2: or Weary that you get your podcasts in June and 327 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 2: tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.