Language Loss and Recovery

A Kāi Tahu story

“Within three generations, te reo Māori
is almost extinct in our native villages here.”

Cousins Steve Bryant and Ian Bryant share personal memories of growing up with their Māori heritage and language suppressed. For Kāi Tahu today, there is a renewed focus on their indigenous language and dialect and on reinstating correct place names. Paulette Tamati-Elliffe leads the Kāi Tahu Māori language revitalisation strategy, which aims for te reo Māori to be a spoken, living language in homes, schools and on marae. A further challenge is to take the language back into the natural environment:

“As we’re restoring those traditional practices in mahika kai,
we need to restore the language that’s associated with that too.”