Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) is nearly here and this year there will be plenty of events on in Porirua to mark it.

The week is particularly special this year, as it marks the 50 th anniversary of the presentation of Te Petihana Reo Māori - the Māori Language Petition - to Parliament, the event that led to many of the kaupapa we have today, including Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

Porirua City Council is marking the week-long language celebration, taking place between September 12-18, in a way that will honour and spread te reo in our community.

"Te Wiki o te reo Māori is the time when we embrace Māori language and when we elevate it as an icon of Aotearoa," says Porirua City Council General Manager Community and Partnerships Reuben Friend.

"It is already well-integrated into our society and phrases and expressions have become the norm for many of us, but it is important that this becomes even more ingrained.

"August marked 35 years since te reo Māori became an official language in Aotearoa, so it’s up to everyone to be kaitiaki of the language to make it stronger than ever."

Te reo will also be woven into some of the regular Council-run events next week, such as Kindy Gym and lessons with Dash Swim School.

Mr Friend says it’s exciting to offer a range of events to mark Te Wiki o te reo Māori this year as Covid-19 restrictions in 2021 meant most of the celebrations were moved online.

Ngāti Toa will also be supporting our events and will be at the flag raising ceremony at the Peace Memorial on Lyttelton Ave at 8am on Monday 12 September.

Here are some of the events taking place across Porirua during the week:

• Flag raising ceremony, Monday 12 September, 8am.
• Kapa Haka performance by Aotea College, Saturday 17 September, 12 noon at Pātaka Art+Museum.
• The Toi Store in Pātaka will be profiling te reo Māori publications for sale.
• The Kia Kaha te reo Māori hei tiki design will be featured in the Pātaka spine.
• Arena Aquatics and Cannons Creek Pool will be providing virtual bilingual tours of their facilities, which will be made available via social media.
• Arena Fitness will

provide a fitness word of the day through translating fitness equipment in te

reo - shared both at the facility and on social media.

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