[lg policy] Māori Language Policy

[Harold Schiffman]

Māori Language Policy*Monday, 18 July 2016, 11:43 am*
*Press Release: Maori Council <http://info.scoop.co.nz/Maori_Council>*

New Zealand Māori Council: Media statement on Māori Language Policy

As the Minister of Māori Development takes the final steps to establish Te
Mātāwai as the new and innovative body to lead the Māori Language strategy,
the New Zealand Māori Council congratulates the 13 appointees to the Board
who have been selected from a wide and competitive field, and calls for an
innovative approach to strategy development.

For its part the New Zealand Māori Council considers the restoration of
Māori group housing should be recognised as a necessary step for the
revival of Te Reo Māori as a language of everyday communication.

Despite revitalisation efforts the language is considered to be endangered
and unlikely to survive as a language for ordinary conversation unless it
is more often spoken to children in homes and within communities where
Māori is spoken most of the time. Creating Māori housing clusters, with
preference to those committed to speaking te reo, should constitute an
important facet of a Māori Language strategy, says the Council.

Customarily, Māori lived in papakainga in rural areas where te reo was the
primary language but the rural papakainga could not be maintained due to
legislation like the Town and Country Planning Act 1952 and Maori Housing
policies both of which required that Māori move to urban areas in order to
build with State Advances or Māori Housing loans. At about this time Māori
transitioned from 80% rural to 80% urban within a generation, and those
moving to urban areas were pepper potted throughout so that the language
had little chance of survival.

The main problem was that people could not rebuild in the papakainga
because of planning laws requiring the sole ownership of a minimum farming
unit to build in rural areas. Now the new Māori Language Act contains an
acknowledgement that past Crown actions and policies contributed to the
loss of the Māori language. The usual reference in this context is to
monolingual education policies and official publications. In fact however,
in the Council’s view, the main cause of language loss was the collapse of
the papakainga due to planning laws and government pepper potting policies
in providing housing loans or state accommodation in urban areas.

The Council calls on government to restore the balance with state assisted
subdivisions and buildings, or home purchases to create group housing,
particularly near marae or other cultural facilities, with preference for
those committed to recreating Māori speaking communities.


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1607/S00199/maori-language-policy.htm
-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20160718/705647ce/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list