A Day Of Celebration And Acknowledgement

Thursday, 24 August 2006, 10:35 am
Press Release: Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc

A Day Of Celebration And Acknowledgement

On Friday 25th August Ngati Kahungunu will celebrate the launching of the Kahungunu Te Reo Strategy at Omahu Marae.

Mr Ihaia Hutana has led this project for the past ten months along with a dedicated forum of advisors in the field of Te Reo Maori.

However Mr Hutana acknowledges the stalwart pioneers who, over the years, have dedicated themselves to the kaupapa.

In the 1800’s and early 1900’s Kahungunu Reo flourished throughout the vast Ngati Kahungunu tribal rohe. For a number of reasons it has declined rapidly and while there have been a number of positive initiatives to improve the situation, the statistics are showing a continuous decline said Mr Hutana.

Research over the past ten months has involved consultation with whanau hapu and iwi throughout the Kahungunu rohe and other parts of Aotearoa where Kahungunu whanau reside. There was also a survey carried out via the Kahungunu website that included feedback from hundreds of people.

From this survey, it was made clear that whanau want to be able to speak te reo in their homes, in their workplaces, on the sports fields and everywhere they go said Mr Hutana.

The key to making this happen, as identified in the focus of the strategy:

• To strengthen the Kahungunu paepae

• To create and improve learning opportunities for whanau and hapu

• To encourage an awareness of issues relating to Kahungunu reo and tikanga

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• To increase the amount of reo being spoken in the homes and other domains

• To research, reconstruct Kahungunu reo and provide resources for distribution

• To develop sustainable relationships with other stakeholders

The highlights of the day will be the presence of key pioneers in revitalising the reo, Dr Pita Sharples and Dr Timoti Karetu, the acknowledgement of Kahungunu people who have been outstanding in supporting te reo and the presentation to Kaumatua symbolising the importance of passing on the reo and Kahungunu stories and tikanga to their mokopuna.

A special guest appearance of Kahungunu’s own Hinewehi Mohi.

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