7th Polynesian Languages Conference

Language in the Homeland

30 June - 3 July 2003

Wellington, New Zealand

Polynesian Languages Conference

Read the press release.

There is a growing awareness about language amongst Māori and Pacific Island peoples in
Aotearoa. The importance of language in expressing cultural identity, maintaining integrity
and ensuring viability as a community is becoming evident.
The Māori language renaissance has played a leading role in language regeneration. Much can
be gained by the sharing of best practice models, networking and strategic alignment.
A different country has hosted the Polynesian Languages Forum each time. The 7th
conference of the members of the Polynesian Languages Forum will take place in Aotearoa on
30 June 2003.
This year's theme is "Te Reo i te Whenua tipu" - "Language in the Homeland".

Background to the Polynesian Languages Forum

Polynesian Languages Forum

The idea to establish a forum arose after concern was shown by a number of the Polynesian
language groups resident in New Zealand (other than Māori) for the plight of their languages
and the fact that issues relating to the demise of the Māori language also applied to those
languages and to those groups resident in their own nations. As a consequence, Te Taura
Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) decided to call representatives of the
Polynesian nations together to discuss those issues and to discuss the formation of a
permanent group. As a consequence, at a meeting hosted by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in
Hamilton, New Zealand from 21-23 February 1991, the Polynesian Languages Forum was
established.

The Forum includes the following member nations:

United States of America Hawai'i Aotearoa - New Zealand

Tahiti Cook Islands
Niue Tonga
Western Samoa American Samoa
Tūvalu Tokelau
Chile Rapanui (Easter Island) Rotuma
Wallis and Futuna Fiji

The aims of the Forum are:

 a. to share the ideas and information about ways in which our respective languages, in
both their written and their spoken forms, can be better maintained and promoted in
the home, in education, in the media, in the public service, in the law and in everyday
life;
b. to share and exchange new words created in our respective languages, through the
maintenance of a common database and in other ways;
c. to share and exchange ideas, information and experiences about the methods of
expanding vocabularies, including the retrieval of words no longer used and coining of
the new terms;
d. to share and exchange information and experiences about the methods of learning and
teaching in our respective languages;
e. to share and exchange ideas, information and experiences about producing teaching
and learning materials, such as books, posters, videos and computer software, and to
facilitate the adoption of such materials for use in each other's languages;
f. to promote the objects of the Forum to member nations governments;
g. to keep the governments of member nations informed of the state of their Polynesian
languages.

The Forum has met on six occasions since its establishment meeting in Aotearoa in 1991.
These have been:
2nd 4-7 May 1992 Pape'ete, Tahiti
3rd 15-19 May 1993 Hilo, Hawai'i
4th 7-11 August 1995 Wellington, Aotearoa
5th 21-27 March 1998 Pīra'e, Tahiti
6th 27-30 March 2000 Hanga Roa, Rapanui

Events open to the public

30 June 2003, 7.00pm

Rangatahi Debates
Council Chambers at Victoria University
Wellington
1 July 2003, 7.00pm
Screening of the Merchant of Venice, (Māori version with English subtitles)
Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Wellington
3 July 2003, 8.00pm
Pōwhakangahau - social evening
Student Union Building at Victoria University
Wellington
 Te Tuawhitu o ngā Hui Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa
Te Reo i te Whenua Tipu

30 Pipiri - 3 Hōngongoi 2003

Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, Aotearoa

Te Hui Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa

Read the press release.

Kei te tipu ake te arokā mō te reo i waenganui i te Māori me ngā tāngata o ngā moutere o te
Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa e noho nei ki Aotearoa. Kua kitea he mea nui tā te reo hei huarahi
whakaatu i te tuakiri ahurea, hei pupuri hoki i te ngākau pono me te whakarite i te āheitanga
hei hapori.
He kawenga ārahi tā ngā mahi whakaora i te reo Māori i roto i ngā āhuatanga whakahou reo.
Ka nui hoki ngā whiwhinga mā te tiri i ngā tauira mahi whaitake, mā ngā kōtuituinga me te
mahi whakahāngai rautaki.
Ia wā, ia wā, ka whakahaerehia ngā Wānanga Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa e tētahi atu motu.
Ka tū te hui reo tuawhitu o ngā mema o te Wānanga Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ki Aotearoa i
te rā 30 o Pipiri 2003.
Ko te kaupapa o te hui i tēnei tau ko te "Te Reo i te Whenua Tipu."

He Whakamārama

Te Wānanga Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa

I puta te whakaaro kia whakatūria he wānanga nā runga i te whakatāuteute o ngā rōpū reo o te
Moana-nui-a-Kiwa e noho ana ki Aotearoa (i tua atu i te Māori) mō te raruraru o ō rātou ake
reo me te mōhio ko ngā kaupapa e pā ana ki te mate haere o te reo Māori, e hāngai ana ki aua
reo me aua iwi e noho ana ki ō rātou ake motu. Nā tēnei, i karangatia ngā māngai o ngā iwi o
te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ki te matapaki i aua kaupapa me te
whakawhiti whakaaro mō te whakatūnga o tētahi rōpū pūmau. Ko te otinga, i tū he Wānanga
Reo o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa i te hui a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i Kirikiriroa, Aotearoa i
ngā rā 21-23 o Hui-tanguru 1991.

Ko ngā iwi kei roto i tēnei Wānanga ko:

Te Hononga o Amerika - Hawaii Aotearoa

Tahiti Kuki Airani
Niue Tonga
Hāmoa ki te uru Hāmoa Amerikana
Tūwaru Tokerau
Hiri - Rapanui Rotuma
Wārihi me Whūtuna Whītī

Ko ngā whāinga matua o te Wānanga;

 a. ki te whakawhiti whakaaro me ngā pārongo e pā ana ki te āhua o te pupuri me te
whakatairanga i ō tātou ake reo ahakoa tuhi, ahakoa kōrero, i roto i te kainga, i ngā
mahi pāpāho, i ngā tari kāwanatanga, i te ture, ā, i roto i ngā āhuatanga katoa o ia rā;
b. ki te tiri me te whakawhitiwhiti kupu hou kua hangāia i roto i te reo o tēnā, o tēnā, mā
te mau ki tētahi pātengi raraunga pātahi me ētahi atu huarahi.
c. ki te tiri me te whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro, pārongo me ngā wheako e pā ana ki ngā
huarahi mō te whakaroha kupu, tae noa ki te whakaora i ngā kupu kāore i te
whakamahia me te hanga i ngā kōrero hou.
d. ki te tiri me te whakawhitiwhiti pārongo me ngā wheako e pā ana ki ngā huarahi ako
me te whakaako i roto i te reo o tēnā, o tēnā.
e. ki te tiri me te whakawhitiwhiti whakaaro, pārongo me ngā wheako mō te whakaputa
rauemi ako, whakaako hoki, pērā i te pukapuka, ngā pānui whakamārama, ngā ataata
me ngā pūmanawa rorohiko, me te whakahaere i te whakamahia o aua rauemi ki roto i
te reo o tēnā, o tēnā.
f. ki te whakatairanga i ngā whāinga o te Wānanga ki ngā kāwanatanga o ngā iwi kua
uru.
g. ki te whakamōhio atu i ngā kāwanatanga o ngā iwi kua uru mai ki te āhua o ō rātou reo
o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

E ono ngā hui kua tū mai i te orokohanga o te wānanga i te tau 1991. Anei e whai ake:
Te tuarua 4-7 o Haratua 1992 Pape'ete, Tahiti
Te tuatoru 15-19 o Haratua 1993 Hilo, Hawaii
Te tuawhā 7-11 o Here-turi-kōkā 1995 Pōneke, Aotearoa
Te tuarima 21-27 o Poutū-te-rangi 1998 Pīra'e, Tahiti
Te tuaono 27-30 o Poutū-te-rangi 2000 Hanga Roa, Rapanui

Ngā whakaaturanga mō te tumatanui

30 Pipiri 2003, 7.00 karaka

Taukumekume Rangatahi
Council Chambers, Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui
Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara

1 Hōngongoi 2003, 7.00 karaka

Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Wēneti
Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara

3 Hōngongoi 2003, 8.00 karaka

Pō Whakangahau
Student Union Building, Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui
Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara