E tipu e rea mō ngā rā o tōu ao…
1900 - 1930s
- In 1913, 90% of Māori children still spoke Māori and until the 1930s it remained
the predominant language in Māori homes.
From 1903 policies discouraging the use of Māori language in Native Schools were
more rigorously enforced. Children who came from a Māori-speaking whanau often had
to spend an extra year in the primers, as they were seen as being at a disadvantage.
From the 1930s Māori leaders such as Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck saw
a decline in the use of Māori and began encouraging families to speak Māori at home,
while promoting the use of English in schools. European scholars were also interested in
retaining Māori as a language option in high schools and universities.
- Māori language was made a subject for University Entrance in 1929.
The language policies, however, did not extend to primary schools, or to the Native
Schools. In 1931, new regulations relating to Native Schools introduced a policy of ‘cultural
adaptation’, which encouraged the teaching of Māori arts and crafts, but not language.
