Auckland Council is supporting a raft of events and activations in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and Mahuru Māori for Aucklanders to get onboard the waka and enjoy.
The theme for Te Wiki 2024 is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of te reo Māori. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have made to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future.
Te Rawhitiroa Bosch. A Whakairo, Māori Carving. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.
To whakanui (celebrate) this, Auckland Council is supporting an extensive and joyous programme across Tāmaki Makaurau, offering numerous ways to learn and experience te reo Māori and be part of its flourishing through reading, watching, listening, learning, singing and playing.
‘Ki te hoe!’ ‘To the paddle!’ Here’s our top ten ways you and your whānau can get moving on this waka:
1. Read a children’s book that reads along with you in te reo Māori
Auckland Council Libraries has teamed up with global company Library Ideas in a world-first to translate and add spoken Māori to six children’s books. The books come with VOX readers attached to their front covers, which read the books aloud. Listen along to narrators such as renowned Māori actors Miriama McDowell and Kimo Houltham. They’re perfect for tamariki (children) or pakeke (adults) learning a new language to help them match the words to the sounds.
2. Visit Auckland Central City Library’s uplifting new exhibition: Wawaia Ngā Ngutu
Auckland Central City Library is thrilled to announce an uplifting new exhibition Waiwaia Ngā Ngutu ahead of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, celebrating the eloquence and expression of te reo Māori from the early nineteenth century to the present day.
This free exhibition, which runs from Wednesday 4 September 2024 - 1 February 2025, provides visitors with a showcase of never-before publicly seen taonga Māori (Māori treasures) from Auckland Council Libraries Heritage Collections, accompanied by a rich soundscape that brings the written word to life and affirms the essence of te reo Māori: a language heard and spoken with eloquence.
3. Listen to kōrero from esteemed authors and activists to enrich your reo
In celebration of the Waiwaia Ngā Ngutu exhibition, Auckland City Central Library is hosting a conversation between award-winning authors Shilo Kino (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) and Hēmi Kelly (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu, Ngāti Whāoa) on 12 September 2024 from 6pm-7pm. Kino’s recently published novel All That We Know follows Māreikura as she works to reclaim her reo Māori, while also navigating personal relationships and a growing public profile. Shilo will be joined on stage by Hēmi Kelly, author of A Māori Word a Day, A Māori Phrase a Day, expert translator, and host of the Everyday Māori Podcast. A Māori language teacher, Hēmi started learning te reo Māori as a teenager and is a passionate advocate for the revitalisation of reo Māori.
4. Watch Ngako, a new documentary film episode at Aotea Square
Ngako: The Collections Talk is a documentary film series that explores the taonga held in Auckland Council Libraries Heritage Collections. This Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, a new Ngako episode will be released for Waiwaia Ngā Ngutu on the big screen at Aotea Square, taking a closer at the specially selected exhibition taonga that capture the eloquence of te reo Māori in written form.
Come and journey with narrators who illustrate how documentary heritage collections help us understand our past and our present and show us potential paths into our future. Check this out on the digital stage at Aotea Square during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
5. Learn te reo Māori from your local library or Maunga
“Kia ora, ko wai koe? Kei te pēhea koe?” (“Hello, who are you? How are you?”) Auckland Council Libraries offer te reo Māori classes across Tāmaki Makaurau to Aucklanders with any level of ability, an entry point to learn the language of Aotearoa and enrich your understanding of Māori culture.
As Auckland Council Libraries kaiako (teacher) Yvonne Te Wanihi Edwards says, “The more you use the conversation, the more you hear it, the easier it becomes.”
We encourage everyone to give it a go and ako i te reo (learn the language).
Alternatively, you can head over to Love Your Maunga Facebook and Instagram pages for an audio pronunciation guide of ‘Ngā Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau’ (the ancestral mountains of Auckland). Look out for our 'Te Reo o Te Taiao' phrasebook and connect with the beauty of our Maunga. Give it a go, karawhiua!
6. Take on a challenge for Mahuru Māori
Mahuru Māori is a reo Māori challenge that came about as a personal social experiment by language revitalisation expert and activist Paraone Gloyne in 2014 as a way of broadcasting te reo and normalising it in everyday interactions. The challenge is to consciously use as much reo Māori as you can during the month of Mahuru. Regardless of whom you speak to, where you speak it, and how long you speak it for – you’ll speak only in te reo Māori. Mahuru Māori is a great opportunity for everyone to speak te reo Māori. It doesn’t matter what your current level of Māori language may be, we encourage you to take up the challenge! Check out some challenge ideas and register here.
7. Play a giant game of Kupurori (Māori scrabble)
Auckland City Central Library is hosting a series of ‘Kupurori’, Māori scrabble using a giant board and pū (letters) throughout Mahuru Māori. Come along on the 12, 19, or 26 September 2024 and join the Merge Community and some of our street whānau to a game taking turns to form kupu Māori (words) and test your reo. Kupurori is a project designed by whānau, for whānau, and prototyped by the Merge Community team, through Lifewise.
8. Put on your own event, learn te reo or spark up a kōrero i te reo Māori
Head along to the website Te Wiki o te Reo Māori to download their free resources which include Māori wordlists, zoom backgrounds, question prompts, pronunciation posters, event hosting guides, and more! They’re all designed to awhi (help) you to do something for te reo, no matter how big or small.
9. Watch the Vector Lights on Auckland Harbour Bridge light up for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
15-19 September, 6:30pm to midnight
Vector Lights on the Auckland Harbour Bridge will be shining bright during Te Wiki, drawing on the iconic ‘Kia Kaha te reo Māori’ heitiki (logo) and the colours of the arero (tongue).
The colours represent the rākau (cuisenaire rods) used in teaching the Ataarangi language method, familiar now to decades of school children and adults in the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
Photo credit: Brett Phibbs
10. See Auckland city centre’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori large-scale activations
Light installations, a wall of 28 posters, a park, and the pages of a giant book are all celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori in Auckland’s city centre.
From the changing lights of Whai, an artwork on the Victoria Street East carpark inspired by the traditional Māori string game that reflects the red of a teacher’s pen, to a giant book by Peter Gossage ‘How Māui Slowed the Sun’ that takes two or three children to turn each page at Auckland Central City Library, to a fun new way to learn waiata at Myers Park’s Waimahara where a soundtrack and light effects burst into song with you, there’s plenty to check out in our city centre.
For a full programme of city centre experiences learn more here: City centre turns a new page for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and Mahuru Māori.
