Editing Māori language (section)

=== Revitalisation efforts ===
{{Main|Māori language revival}}
[[File:He Taonga te Reo.jpg|alt=the words on the poster include "He Taonga Te Reo" – a celebration of Maori Language poster, Wellington Public Library. It has a colourful green and blue graphic and in the centre drawings of people reading, listening to headphones and on a computer. Small drawings of things representing weaving and carving, the natural world (example an octopus, kōwhai flowers), music, sport, travel.  |thumb|He Taonga Te Reo – a celebration of Maori Language poster, Wellington Public Library (1995)]]
By the 1950s some Māori leaders had begun to recognise the dangers of the loss of {{Lang|Mi|te reo Māori}}.<ref name=":6">{{Citation |last=Harris |first=Aroha |title=Te Ao Hurihuri: The Changing World |date=2015 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7810/9780908321537_3 |work=Tangata Whenua: A History |publisher=Bridget Williams Books |doi=10.7810/9780908321537 |isbn=9780908321537 |access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref> By the 1970s there were many strategies used to save the language.<ref name=":6" /> This included Māori-language revitalization programs such as the [[Māori language revival#Kōhanga Reo|Kōhanga Reo]] movement, which from 1982 immersed infants in Māori from infancy to school age.<ref name=":2" /> There followed in 1985 the founding of the first [[Kura Kaupapa Māori]] (Years 1 to 8 Māori-medium education programme) and later the first Wharekura (Years 9 to 13 Māori-medium education programme). In 2011 it was reported that although "there was a true revival of te reo in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s&nbsp;... spurred on by the realisation of how few speakers were left, and by the relative abundance of older fluent speakers in both urban neighbourhoods and rural communities", the language has continued to decline."<ref name=":2">{{cite book |publisher= Waitangi Tribunal |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-869563-01-1 |title=Ko Aotearoa tēnei: A report into claims concerning New Zealand law and policy affecting Māori culture and identity – Te taumata tuarua |location= Wellington, New Zealand |id= Wai 262 |url= https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68356606/KoAotearoaTeneiTT2Vol2W.pdf |access-date= 5 October 2021 |archive-date= 5 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211005111025/https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68356606/KoAotearoaTeneiTT2Vol2W.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> The decline is believed "to have several underlying causes".<ref name="Waitangi Tribunal 2011, p. 440">Waitangi Tribunal (2011, p. 440).</ref> These include:

* the ongoing loss of older native speakers who have spearheaded the [[Māori language revival|Māori-language revival]] movement
* complacency brought about by the very existence of the institutions which drove the revival
* concerns about quality, with the supply of good teachers never matching demand (even while that demand has been shrinking)
* excessive regulation and centralised control, which has alienated some of those involved in the movement
* an ongoing lack of educational resources needed to teach the full curriculum in {{Lang|Mi|te reo Māori}}<ref name="Waitangi Tribunal 2011, p. 440" />
* natural [[language attrition]] caused by the overwhelming increase of spoken English.

Based on the principles of partnership, Māori-speaking government, general revitalisation and dialectal protective policy, and adequate resourcing, the [[Waitangi Tribunal]] has recommended "four fundamental changes":<ref>Waitangi Tribunal (2011, p. 470).</ref>

# [[Māori Language Commission|Te Taura Whiri]] (the Māori Language Commission) should become the lead Māori language sector agency. This will address the problems caused by the lack of ownership and leadership identified by the Office of the Auditor-General.<ref>{{cite web |date= 2017 |title= Controller and Auditor-General |url= https://www.oag.govt.nz/about-us |work= Office of the Auditor-General |location= [[Wellington]], New Zealand |access-date= 3 December 2017 |archive-date= 4 December 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171204114605/https://www.oag.govt.nz/about-us |url-status= live }}</ref>
# Te Taura Whiri should function as a Crown–Māori partnership through the equal appointment of Crown and Māori appointees to its board. This reflects [the Tribunal's] concern that te reo revival will not work if responsibility for setting the direction is not shared with Māori.
# Te Taura Whiri will also need increased powers. This will ensure that public bodies are compelled to contribute to {{lang|mi|te reo}}'s revival and that key agencies are held properly accountable for the strategies they adopt. For instance, targets for the training of te reo teachers must be met, education curricula involving te reo must be approved, and public bodies in districts with a sufficient number and/or proportion of ''te reo'' speakers and schools with a certain proportion of Māori students must submit Māori language plans for approval.
# These regional public bodies and schools must also consult [[iwi]] (Māori tribes or tribal confederations) in the preparation of their plans. In this way, iwi will come to have a central role in the revitalisation of ''te reo'' in their own areas. This should encourage efforts to promote the language at the grassroots.<ref>Waitangi Tribunal (2011, p. 471).</ref>
The changes set forth by the Tribunal are merely recommendations; they are not binding upon government.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/about/intro.asp|title=Waitangi Tribunal|website=waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz|access-date=9 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114021711/http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/about/intro.asp|archive-date=14 November 2013}}</ref>
[[File:Bastion Point Maori Land Rights copy.jpg|thumb|[[Bastion Point]] land rights activists with Māori-language signs]]
There is, however, evidence that the revitalisation efforts are taking hold, as can be seen in the teaching of {{lang|mi|te reo}} in the school curriculum, the use of Māori as an instructional language, and the supportive ideologies surrounding these efforts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Albury|first=Nathan John|date=2 October 2015|title=Collective (white) memories of Māori language loss (or not)|journal=Language Awareness|volume=24|issue=4|pages=303–315|doi=10.1080/09658416.2015.1111899|s2cid=146532249|issn=0965-8416}}</ref> In 2014, a survey of students ranging in age from 18 to 24 was conducted; the students were of mixed ethnic backgrounds, ranging from {{lang|mi|[[Pākehā]]}} to Māori who lived in New Zealand. This survey showed a 62% response saying that {{lang|mi|te reo Māori}} was at risk.<ref name=":0" /> Albury argues that these results come from the language either not being used enough in common discourse, or from the fact that the number of speakers was inadequate for future language development.<ref name=":0" />

The policies for language revitalisation have been changing in attempts to improve Māori language use and have been working with suggestions from the Waitangi Tribunal on the best ways to implement the revitalisation. The Waitangi Tribunal in 2011 identified a suggestion for language revitalisation that would shift indigenous policies from the central government to the preferences and ideologies of the Māori people.<ref name=":1" /> This change recognises the issue of Māori revitalisation as one of indigenous self-determination, instead of the job of the government to identify what would be best for the language and Māori people of New Zealand.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Albury|first=Nathan John|date=2 April 2016|title=An old problem with new directions: Māori language revitalisation and the policy ideas of youth|journal=Current Issues in Language Planning|volume=17|issue=2|pages=161–178|doi=10.1080/14664208.2016.1147117|s2cid=147076237|issn=1466-4208}}</ref>
[[File:Broadwood Area School2.JPG|thumb|Bilingual sign in [[Broadwood, New Zealand|Broadwood, Northland]]]]