Te reo me Te Ao Māori — Knox Presbyterian Church, Ōtautahi, Christchurch
A Progressive Commitment to Partnership
The leaders of Knox Presbyterian Church, a socially progressive congregation in Christchurch, felt it was important for their congregation to model healthy bi-cultural engagement.
One way of approaching that was to support the development of people’s ability in the use of te reo Māori, to learn more about te Ao Māori and ‘to be a more natural neighbour to local tangata whenua.’
Classes Backed by Justice-Compassion Trust
In 2023 the congregation, with the support of a grant from the Justice-Compassion Trust of Aotearoa New Zealand, organised for a group of 15 people from their congregation to attend te reo Māori classes (five x 2 hour sessions). The classes covered te reo Māori greetings, pepeha, prayers, blessings and introductory sentence structure.
““We wanted to be more natural neighbours to local tangata whenua—and that starts with listening, learning and using the language of the land.””
From Classroom to Marae
A visit to a local marae to attend a workshop titled Getting To Know Us was also organised where sixteen people from the congregation heard stories about the foundation of Ōtautahi, landmark events significant to mana whenua and current issues at the marae.
Participants report that they found the te reo Māori classes and marae visit interesting, challenging and informative. Many felt more confident in their correct pronunciation of te reo Māori and understanding of both marae tikanga and the history of Ōtautahi. There is enthusiasm amongst the group members to take part in a second workshop hosted by the local marae, ‘walking the streets of the city and hearing the indigenous cry of ‘our’ city.’
