To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, the TV show ‘The Project’ will be doing a whole broadcast in te reo Māori, host Kara Rickard announced on a Facebook post this morning.
“Tonight, The Project are doing something really special, a whole show in te reo Māori,” she wrote.
“Broadcasts like this on a mainstream network, in prime time, go a long way towards normalising te reo and showing our tamariki that their reo is valued and important.”
“None of the main hosts are fluent reo speakers either so for them to put their hands up and be brave and willing to tautoko our reo in this way is just beautiful!”
“Tūwhitia te hopo, marangaitia te angitū! You guys rule, I can't wait to watch @kanoalloyd @jessemulligannz @jonbridges66 @_wikitoriaday_ @stacedotcom.”
As Kara said, ka pai to the team at The Project, stuff like this can really help Te Reo and its cultural standing in Aoteroa, normalising it and making it more accessible for the next generation and anyone else who’s keen to learn more about it.
The Project also posted a short video to their socials making the announcement, saying they’re “doing something we’ve never done before” before announcing the full Te Reo show, as well as letting us know Māori artists Teeks and Rob Ruha and Ka Hao will be joining them on the show.
If you’re not fluent in Te Reo, that’s okay! Te Kaupapa said there will be English subtitles running throughout the show.
“Ka whaka-iri-hia he kupu hauraro reo Pākehā, kia pai ai tō mātakitaki mai,” they said before translating it.
“The entire programme will be subtitled in English, like this, so you can enjoy it the same as you would any other show.”
This year marks 50 years since a petition to teach Te Reo in schools signed by 30,000 people was delivered to Parliament - marking a huge step in the revitalisation of that language. That day, September 14th 1972, would soon become known as Māori Language Day, and not long after that, the whole week would be dedicated to the Māori language.
