The Value of Te Reo Māori
In our recent deliberations regarding research and the Māori language, we identified three major questions facing the life of the language. The first concerns "how do we increase the number of people speaking the Māori language?". The second question is 'how do increase our understanding of fluency in the Māori language and increase the number of people achieving fluency?" The final question, and the one that is less well researched is "what is the value of the Māori language?" This is vitally important question which, if addressed properly I feel, will bring even more energy into the revitalisation of our language. As a response to this question of the value of the Māori language, I offer the following ideas: - The contribution of the Māori language to the construction and articulation of identity. This leads to feelings of empowerment and mana leading to social cohesion. This is the case for the individual Māori person who is building a sense of their o