As we progress our te reo Māori aspirations for the country, we are also opening up big conversations around how we can decolonise our nation.
In my Marsden-funded research, which looks to understand Aotearoa New Zealand’s journey to become a bilingual nation, I have found that multiple positions are being thrown up, debated and contested in terms of how te reo Māori should be distributed, consumed and resourced. These varied positions provide a crucial opportunity to explore the dynamics and the nature of the bicultural relationship between Māori and Pākehā and to further explore decolonisation and how it can be best achieved.