First-ever Moriori language week a 'long time coming'

Moriori people, tchakat henu (tangata whenua) of Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands, have much to celebrate with the first-ever Moriori language week kicking off this November.

Hokotehi Moriori Trust secretary Hana-Maraea Solomon encouraged everyone to champion the language all over the world.

“We just want everybody to be able to share and enjoy our language with us.”

“Every time we speak the language, it’s almost like a connection to our karāpuna [ancestors].”

Once a declining population with little-to-no knowledge of the language and traditions, Moriori people have sworn to reclaim their identity.

“Obviously it’s taken a long enough time, decades in fact, to be able to be recognised as a people. So one step at a time.”

In 2023, a petition was launched seeking support for Moriori language week to be officially recognised in New Zealand.

Moriori language week will begin on Monday, November 17, with or without official recognition.

“We wanted the government to recognise our language, we’d appreciate their support, but we don’t need external parties to recognise our language in order to be able to celebrate.”

She hoped it would catch on.

“It’s a small start and I’m sure we’ll learn heaps from this experience, but you get that feeling when you’re just not ready, but when is the right time to do it? I think there’s never a right time, we just need to get it done.”

Just like the week-long celebrations of Māori and Pacific language weeks in Aotearoa, there will be activities for everyone.

Most of those are daily activities for many Moriori, Solomon said, but social media will be pumping with Moriori content and there will be a variety of events on Rēkohu and across the motchu (motu).

“There will be online ta rē [language] sessions that people can jump into, there’ll be social media activities, videos, stories, songs, a bit of tikane [practices], et cetera.

“And in some cases, sharing what we already have, because so many are starting from scratch,” Solomon said.

In recent years, the focus has been on the Moriori Claims Settlement, and many different priorities had to come before the ta rē, Solomon said, which added to the need for language revitalisation and protection.

“There’s been a lot of work in that cultural space and understanding and learning our karakii [incantations] and our rongo [songs]. We had Hou Rongo – the exhibition down at Otago – we’ve had films, we’ve had lots of different things. So it’s just kind of constantly adding to that kete.”

“And to be frank, the different tchipangă, or kaupapa, that we have going on at the moment is really exciting, but we don’t want to lose sight of this particular initiative.”

The announcement has brought excitement and a bit of nervousness.

“We don’t yet know everything, but we know enough to be able to share what we’ve got so that we can normalise words a little more and karakii.”

“We’re going to do the best that we can with the resources that we’ve got and the people that we’ve got. Next year will be even bigger and even better and I just encourage everybody to give it a try.”