National Iwi Chairs Forum Support Toitū Te Reo, Inaugural National Māori Language Festival

The National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) expressed their unanimous endorsement for ‘Toitū te Reo, the National Māori Language Festival’ presented by Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group (MILG) at the recent forum gathering in Tauranga.

Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod on behalf of Kauwaka and Ngati Kahungunu, invited the nation to the first ever Maori language festival in Hastings in August 2024.

“We were proud to support Toitū te Reo being presented at the Iwi Chairs Forum and acknowledge the commitment by Ngāti Kahungunu to contribute to the revitalisation of te reo Māori. The Toitū te Reo festival is not only going to be a celebration of te reo Māori, but also a celebration of Māori self-determination and actualisation,” says Olivia Hall (Ngāti Rārua), Chair of MILG.

Kiingi Tuuheitia Potatau Te Wherowhero VII and a number of iwi have offered their support of this festival as both a demonstration of mana motuhake and to celebrate Māori language, culture and identity.

“Toitū te Reo will inspire, it will entertain, it will unite, it will challenge, it will excite, and it will motivate. It is a call to activate our language, culture, and national identity as New Zealanders,” says Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod, Kaiwhakahaere Director of Kauwaka.

Note:

Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group

Mātauranga ILG is a National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF) leaders group that leads the educational responses for NICF. NICF exists to advocate and influence priorities of national significance on behalf of collective iwi interests. 

Toitū te Reo

Toitū Te Reo will be hosted in the Hastings CBD and feature: three symposium stages, an exhibition area, a toi Māori space, an outdoor stage, Māori language street activities, rangatahi and kaumātua spaces, artists, live podcast performances (Taringa, Something For The People, Na Wia Teka), a whānau / tamariki area, kapa haka performances and more.

It will provide a platform for thousands to come together and celebrate what the language means to us in Aotearoa. It will inspire, it will entertain, it will unite, it will challenge, it will excite, and it will motivate.

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