Māori Language Awards 2010

Following yet another successful Māori Language Week, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Commission) calls for entries for the Māori Language Awards which will take place on the evening of 9 October as part of Huia Te Reo, the national Māori language conference at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre.

As with last year the awards recognises projects and initiatives which seek longer term commitments to te reo Māori.

“Māori Language Week and the Māori Language Awards have been important in creating critical awareness of language revitalisation amongst wider New Zealand society groups for which the value of te reo Māori is not immediately clear or obvious. The challenge now is building on the goodwill and positivity created during Māori Language Week with a view to creating longer term commitments to the language”, says Chief Executive Glenis Philip-Barbara.

The categories have also had a reshuffle with the media categories renamed as Broadcasting mainstream and Broadcasting Māori. The same principle has been applied to the education categories with a mainstream and Māori medium differentiation introduced.

“Each year we receive feedback about how to improve the awards and the need to level the playing field such that ‘like’ organisations are assessed against one another has been a consistent theme over the years. We expect these changes will enhance the existing awards programme” says Glenis Philip-Barbara.

“We have also introduced an IT and Telecommunications category. The potential to advance and progress language revitalisation through these mediums is largely untapped so we view the addition of this category to the awards platform as an opportunity to profile the more innovative pathways being sought to promulgate and proliferate the language”, says Glenis Philip-Barbara.

After a one year hiatus, and with due consideration to feedback, the government category has also been reintroduced as an award category. As such all government departments and associated public sector entities are invited to submit entries for consideration this year.

For more information on the Māori Language Awards and for entry forms please go to the Kōrero Māori website at www.koreromaori.co.nz

The closing date for entries for the Māori Language Awards has been extended to 20 August 2010.

Tickets for the Māori Language Awards will be available for purchase from the end of August. For further enquiries please ring toll free on 0800 6283736, or email reception@tetaurawhiri.govt.nz