Abstract
As a fluent speaker, a teacher, a researcher of Te Reo MAori and the youngest member of the New Zealand MAori Language Commission, Hinurewa Poutu is passionate about preserving the indigenous language of New Zealand and believes the future of Te Reo MAori rests with the younger generation. Hinurewa, who works as a teacher in the same MAori-medium school where she received her education, has also worked as a television presenter, a MAori language consultant and an associate producer for MAori media. She was a member of the New Zealand Constitutional Advisory Panel, and as a Massey University Studies Graduate, she recently defended her doctoral thesis — written entirely in MAori — on MAori language use among teenagers and young adults who have attended MAori-medium schools. Speaking in support for the introduction of MAori as a compulsory subject in New Zealand mainstream education, Hinurewa believes MAori language belongs to all New Zealanders, MAori and non-MAori alike and that in order for Te Reo MAori to flourish, it needs to break out of its ceremonial mold and to be made “cool” enough for everyday use by the younger generation of speakers.
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