Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori

Establishment

Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Commission) is a Crown Entity established in 1987 by the Māori Language Act 1987.

The Board of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is Ërima Henare (chair), Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, Wayne Ngata, Ruakere Hond and Hana O’Regan. Mr Henare is in his first term and the other members are all in their second term. All the terms expire in December 2009.

Functions and Powers

In broad terms, the Act furnishes Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori with all functions and powers needed to promote the Māori language as an official language of New Zealand and as a living language in everyday use, in accordance with the desires of Māori people.

In 2003, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, jointly with Te Puni Kōkiri, published the Māori Language Strategy (MLS). The MLS sets out high level outcomes for the revitalisation of the Māori language and identifies the roles of government in pursuing those outcomes. The MLS provides further detail about the roles that Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori undertakes in the pursuit of Māori language revitalisation, and the alignment of these roles to the high level outcomes. The MLS is currently being reviewed by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and Te Puni Kōkiri.

Funding

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori has annual funding of approximately $3.2 million.

Strategic Direction

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori recently re-developed its strategic direction. The high-est outcome sought is Ka haruru a Aotearoa tangata i tōna reo taketake, the human landscape of Aotearoa will resonate with its indigenous language.

Beneath that are five broad goals for Māori language:

1. A range of active, self sustainable Māori language domains exist;
2. The Māori language is an everyday language of interaction in homes and communities;
3. Traditional and contemporary Māori language is maintained in an authentic cultural linguistic framework;
4. The people of Aotearoa recognise the intrinsic value of the Māori language; and
5. Māori language acquisition is supported and fully promoted through national education, broadcasting, culture, heritage, creative and information technology industries and networks.

These goals and long term vision align with the goals of the MLS, and the roles of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori within it.

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori is currently develop-ing a five year action plan that will focus its attention on the following priority areas:

1. Māori language in the home;
2. Māori language in communities;
3. National leadership of Māori language development and innovation;
4. Enhanced frameworks and systems for Māori language research and development; and
5. Māori language workforce development.

Key Issues

Key issues identified by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori include:

1. increasing capacity and strategic ability to lead Māori language development across the public sector;
2. consolidating its co-ordination role to enhance Māori language innovation and local impact;
3. the review of the Māori Language Strategy that is currently underway; and,
4. its view that the Māori Language Act should be reviewed.