A Nation's Identity

It may sound cynical to some, to others it will ring true -- New Zealand is only too keen to use the Māori language and the Māori culture when it suits us. Just think: tourism ventures, sporting events, school assemblies and pōwhiris, graduations, funerals... Should I continue?
But how many of you can understand or even recite the Māori lyrics of our national anthem, always sung alongside the English version? And how many of you understand a single word of what's being said at school prize givings? I remember one year sitting in the scorching sun for over an hour while my school had a Pōwhiri to welcome all the new students at the beginning of the year. The Māori teacher spoke rapidly in his native tongue, constantly gesturing to us, his audience and back to the timid new students waiting quietly by the school gate. It's fair to say the majority of us had no idea what was going on. We would then sing songs in Māori, most of us craning our necks in order to see the the lyrics on the small projector screen over by the gym wall. I remember our principal then blundering his way through a set of Māori prayers and welcomes before continuing his speech in English. I used to wonder what the point of it was when none of the students knew what was going on. Honestly, it made me hate the Māori language and see anyone using it in a very negative way. 
However, as I got older and I ventured out into the "real world", I began to realize my negative feelings towards the Māori language and the Māori culture were only down to my lack of knowledge about them. I can't help but think if I had been given the opportunity to study Māori at school in the same way we study maths or geography, maybe things would be different. Education and knowledge, therefore, is the key.


So what is Māori and why is it so important?


Māori is one of New Zealand's three official languages, along with English and New Zealand Sign Language. It was made official under the Maori Language Act 1987. This act gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as in court and it also established the Maori Language Commission to promote the language. The New Zealand Curriculum Online states that "Te reo Māori is indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a taonga [a treasured thing] recognised under the Treaty of Waitangi, a primary source of our nation’s self-knowledge and identity,... By understanding and using te reo Māori, New Zealanders become more aware of the role played by the indigenous language and culture in defining and asserting our point of difference in the wider world." Self-knowledge. Identity. Our point of difference. All very bold statements that bring about feelings of a sense of place and belonging. So why is it that New Zealanders are not willing to embrace this? In a recent survey of 500 willing Kiwi participants, only 38% of people stated that they would like to see Māori as a compulsory subject in New Zealand schools. Even though it is spoken by around 160,000 people to varying degrees of fluency, the Māori language is still considered to be an endangered language. Can New Zealanders not see that there is a way to save a language while at the same time standing out as a multi-lingual, multi-cultural country? Are we as a nation scared of the bad connotations that go along with this language and the culture in which it was born? I see nothing but positives coming out of compulsory Māori teaching, the main idea being that all New Zealanders would be as one and we would have an easier time understanding each other. 
In future posts I plan on answering these questions and more while using examples of other countries' attempts at language and culture preservation. I will also be looking at the attitudes, values and beliefs towards the Māori language in my next post.