Maranga Mai! Te reo & Marae in crisis

Maranga Mai! Te reo & Marae in crisis – Edited by Merata Kawharu

‘Maranga mai! Our people. We have become complacent. Our language and our marae are struggling. Yet we remain asleep. We need to wake up!’
– Merimeri Penfold, Taitokerau kuia

From the time of the Maori renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s, Maori made huge efforts to reinvigorate te reo and the marae as twin cornerstones of identity. Television and radio stations were set up, the Maori Language Commission established and kohanga reo, kura kaupapa and wananga emerged. Old marae were refurbished and new marae established in urban and rural communities. But, in 2013, are te reo and marae in crisis? Numbers of children attending kohanga reo is down 34 percent from its peak. Only 15 percent of Maori children are attending Maori-medium schooling. Fewer and fewer people participate in marae activities. Without a living language spoken regularly on the marae, what is the future for Maori culture? Focusing on northern Tai Tokerau but with conclusions applicable across the country, leading scholars and elders call Maranga Mai! – Wake Up! to these challenges, identifying the key issues and posing potential solutions.