Historical overview of the Māori language in Te Tairāwhiti and Tākitimu

This section provides a brief history of the Māori language specific to the Tairāwhiti and Tākitimu regions. This section has been largely reproduced from earlier Te Puni Kōkiri research that was undertaken in conjunction with local iwi. Updated information was received from recent engagement with local communities. For a fuller national history of Māori language changes, refer to ‘The Health of the Māori Language in 2006’.

Te Whangaokena

In the northern reaches of the East Coast, Ngāti Porou maintained major land holdings under the leadership of Rāpata Wahawaha, Paratene Ngata and Apirana Ngata. This provided a thriving economic base in the early 1900s which allowed the people of Ngāti Porou to maintain control of their own communities and to some extent, limited the need for the widespread knowledge and use of English.

There was also a relatively high level of political activity throughout the whole East Coast of the North Island with several Māori language newspapers in circulation reporting on issues of importance, and the establishment of the Young Māori Party.

The high numbers of Māori men who enlisted in the armed forces from the East Coast, combined with large scale urban migration, meant that the demographics of the communities in the area became skewed to older people. This depopulation of the area contributed to the collapse of the thriving economic base that had allowed these communities to maintain a high level of autonomy. By the 1950s the need to learn English was a reality and the use of Māori in family settings was weakened and in the process of breaking down.

Research conducted in the 1970s highlighted that the Māori language was in danger of dying out. This spurred widespread action throughout Māori communities, resulting in the establishment of kōhanga reo and other activities like Te Ātaarangi, which was started in Tokomaru Bay by Ngoi Pēwhairangi and Kāterina Mataira. Te Ātaarangi maintains a central role in community-based education today, delivering night classes and He Kāinga Kōrerorero, a pilot programme providing language mentoring services to whānau in two East Coast communities.

Another initiative, Radio Ngāti Porou, has been keeping the Māori language alive over the airwaves for more than two decades now. Alongside broadcasting, language revitalisation efforts by Ngāti Porou have in the past had a strong focus on education. Partnerships with the Ministry of Education have resulted in the development and implementation of two initiatives, ‘Te Hiringa i te Mahara’ and ‘Whaia Te Iti Kahurangi’, both focused on strengthening education outcomes in Ngāti Porou and East Coast communities.