EntreviSta - Hinuwera Poutu

Abstract

As a fluent speaker, a teacher, a researcher of Te Reo MÄori and the youngest member of the New Zealand MÄori Language Commission, Hinurewa Poutu is passionate about preserving the indigenous language of New Zealand and believes the future of Te Reo MÄori rests with the younger generation. Hinurewa, who works as a teacher in the same MÄori-medium school where she received her education, has also worked as a television presenter, a MÄori language consultant and an associate producer for MÄori 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 MÄori — on MÄori language use among teenagers and young adults who have attended MÄori-medium schools. Speaking in support for the introduction of MÄori as a compulsory subject in New Zealand mainstream education, Hinurewa believes MÄori language belongs to all New Zealanders, MÄori and non-MÄori alike and that in order for Te Reo MÄori 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.