Speakers of Te Reo Māori
Note: The data and text for this section is sourced in whole or in part from the following report: Ministry of Social Development (2008), Children and Young People: Indicators of Wellbeing in New Zealand 2008. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.
Definition
The number of young Māori aged 12 to 24 who reported in the Census that they could hold a conversation about everyday things in Māori, as a proportion of all young Māori aged 12 to 24.
Relevance
As a central component of Māori culture, Māori language is an important aspect of participation and identity. The Māori language also forms part of the broader cultural identity and heritage of New Zealand and, in 1987, was granted the status of an official language of New Zealand. (1,2)
Current level and trends
In 2006, around a quarter of Māori aged 12 to 24 reported that they were able to hold a conversation about everyday things in Māori.
The number of young Māori speakers increased slightly between 2001 and 2006 from 31,266 to 31,653. However, as the size of Māori youth population grew over this period also, the proportion of Māori aged 12 to 24 able to speak Māori actually fell slightly, from 24.7 percent in 2001 to 22.8 percent in 2006.
| 2001 (%) |
2006 (%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| 12 to 14 years | 25.5 | 22.1 |
| 15 to 19 years | 25.0 | 23.0 |
| 20 to 24 years | 23.8 | 23.2 |
| Total 12 to 24 years | 24.7 | 22.8 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand, Census
Notes
1. Ministry of Social Development (2003), The Social Report 2003. Wellington: Ministry of Social Development, p. 86.
2. For more information about work to develop a “single factor” measure for Māori cultural identity, please see the work of the Te Hoe Nuku Roa study ongoing at Massey University, including Stevenson, B. (2004), “Te hoe nuku roa: a measure of Māori cultural identity”. In He Pukenga Kōrero: A Journal of Māori Studies, 8:1, Raumati (Summer) 2004 (http://maori.massey.ac.nz/publications/hepukengakorero/vol8no1.shtml).
