25 June 2008
Media Release
www.taranakireo.co.nz goes online
Te Reo o Taranaki has just recently gone online. In the 1980s Te Reo o Taranaki was established to focus on revitalising
the mita of Taranaki reo within their communities. More than 20 years on, their emphasis is on inter-generational
language transmission within the home, whānau and community.
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Commissioner Ruakere Hond was instrumental in the development of the Te Reo o Taranaki
language strategy, and going online was one of many initiatives being implemented to regenerate and strengthen the
passing on of Taranaki reo.
`Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori aims to increase support of Māori language community initiatives and organisations such
as Te Reo o Taranaki. Community-level support is critical for the Māori language to become an ordinary, everyday
language in Aotearoa´, says Huhana Rokx, Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
`While it is clear that we have halted the decline of Māori language in this country. There is still much to do. There
is a need to capture, preserve and further develop tribal dialects, and that this is pivotal to the ongoing development
of the language whānau, hapū and iwi. It is great to see iwi and hapū responding to this challenge like Te Reo o
Taranaki has´, says Huhana Rokx.
ENDS