Karanga celebrated ten years on for Mana Wahine Week 2005

Mana Wahine Week will be launched this year by celebrating the ten year anniversary of the release of the ‘Karanga – Nga Reo o nga Wähine Mäori’ (Voices of Mäori Women).

The Karanga project comprises 13 programmes of 29 Mäori women speaking about aspects of Te Reo Mäori including: women and leadership; storytelling; the language and custom of karanga; Mäori language immersion schools; modern music composition and writer and publishers.

The celebration, supported by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, features a photo display of all the women involved in the original recording of the Karanga project, and highlights these women as leaders in their communities.

Karanga was the Ministry of Women’s Affairs project to celebrate Te Tau o Te Reo Mäori: the Year of the Mäori Language in 1995 and is about promoting Mäori women as speakers and protectors of Te Reo Mäori. Karanga has proven to be a valuable resource for Mäori broadcasting, language learners and teachers.

As well as the educational value, the recorded voices of the Mäori women are a unique and precious treasure for not only Mäori, but society at large.

Mana Wahine Week is a series of national and local events that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs has celebrated annually since 1993. That year was both International Year of Indigenous People and Women’s Suffrage Centennial Year and the event began (as ‘Mäori women’s week’) as part of the celebrations for the former to recognise the contribution and celebrate the success of Mäori women in New Zealand.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs supports this national event to celebrate the important role of Mäori women as tangata whenua and highlight the contributions that Mäori women have made to New Zealand society.

Ministry of Women’s Affairs Chief Executive Shenagh Gleisner said Mana Wahine Week provides an opportunity to showcase the skills and talents of Mäori women and celebrate their success and achievements.

Mana Wahine week is celebrated each year with a wide range of activities organised by community groups, iwi and hapu as well as those organised by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. The theme for this year’s Mana Wahine Week is ‘celebrating Mäori women leadership’ and will be held from 11 April 2005 onwards.

ENDS

© Scoop Media