Te Reo Ake O Ngati Porou

NGATI POROU IWI REO STRATEGY

DOCUMENT DRAFT

The revitalisation of Ngâti Porou reo in the diversity of its localised variations of form as a diverse and living language of practical everyday use

NGÂTI POROU IWI REO STRATEGY

What is a Regional Iwi Reo Strategy ?

A regional Iwi Reo Strategy is a planned approach for ensuring the survival of a regionally distinct form of reo as a living language. This is especially the case where that form of reo is an important element of Iwi identity. It is directed toward a population of speakers linked geographically within a rohe and/or culturally through whakapapa networks of an Iwi. A key objective for such a Strategy is the reestablishment of natural language transmission between adult speakers and younger generations in normal everyday environments of the home and community settings, such as marae, kura, sports, kapa haka, alongside local interests and pasttimes. This planned approach for the revitalisation of reo within the regional boundaries associated with Te Rûnanga o Ngâti Porou recognises the diversity of language use and identity well established among the chain of whânau, hapû and marae situated throughout the region. It is also keenly aware of the wide dispersal of Ngâti Porou’s population through Aotearoa and the world. Having ‘a’ Strategy does not imply that all communities are required to conform. Instead it identifies key priorities for action to retain existing diversity and to encourage areas of high value participation to strengthen local capacity for reo use and increase opportunities for connection of Porou descendants through their reo. This Reo Strategy outlines a plan for the most effective use of available resources and presents sound reasoning for greater investment in reo centred initiatives for Ngâti Porou.

Why is a Strategy Needed ?

To understand strategy for reo revitalisation it helps to be aware of why the loss of reo use from our communities occurred in the first place. It is often explained that the impact of mono-lingual policies in schools, strong encouragement for post-war urbanisation and the economic status linked with English as creating conditions for driving the decline in reo usage. Encouraging and expecting children to speak only English (particularly in the home) was the cultural mechanism. The accommodation of English into traditionally Mâori speaking domains was the community-based social mechanism that lead to the expectation that English would be spoken. It is now at a point where speaking Mâori is often considered not normal or accepted. This loss of Mâori speaking domains in Ngâti Porou has changed attitudes toward our reo and how we express our Ngâti Porou identity.

Further expectations are that schools will restore reo proficiency to communities and if Ngâti Porou reo can be made a more prominent part of school curriculum the future of our reo will be assured. Experience in Aotearoa and internationally says otherwise. Schools may be able to build proficiency in reo but if domains outside of schools are not available or accessible then there is real danger that our reo will become an academic skill or a specialist pursuit. A heavy reliance on schools to provide reo use in community settings greatly limits natural language development and significantly lessens the ability of whânau, hapû and marae to retain local forms of reo use. That said, in some areas the Kura may best placed to build community capacity for reo use. In that case those Kura need support to undertake this critical work outside of curriculum and outside of the Kura environment.

Reo Strategy for Ngâti Porou is needed in order to identify the most important projects to support. It helps encourage discussion and understanding between reo groups and local communities about what types of initiatives are best suited for our local conditions. This reduces the potential for ineffective ventures and supports greater participation. A strategy is needed to coordinate our activities and map out long-term goals that are achievable and effective in restoring our reo as a living language.

What are some of the main considerations for the Strategy?

The first thing is to appreciate the local conditions we are faced with. These may change over time but there are at least five characteristics that are considered to be most important.

Natural Transmission: The most important objective within the Strategy is to re-establish natural whânau level acquisition of reo. When children are raised speaking reo in the home they are more likely to continue with this practice when they become parents. Creating a cultural and social mechanism for intergenerational transmission of reo lessens reliance on external resourcing and provides opportunities for local forms of reo to be retained in their respective communities.

Ngâti Porou Reo: Although there are similarities between the reo of hapû, marae and of local communities there are definite points of difference. In many areas there are only a few remaining native speakers of these forms of local reo. This Strategy takes the view that this diversity needs to be retained and future projects should actively encourage local identity by way of supporting the use of local reo.

Dispersed Population: It is estimated that almost 75% of people who affiliate to Ngâti Porou live outside of the region. Although many may not be interested in being involved in projects related to revitalisation of our reo there are a significant number who will be. This Strategy realises that opportunities for access/participation by those outside of the region need to be made available.

Existing Initiatives: There are existing groups that have continued to struggle to offer reo development initiatives. Rather than re-creating new projects there are opportunities to strengthen projects that are well oriented to local conditions and have a background in providing effective service. This Strategy will endeavour to support existing capacity and services in the region and not diminish their potential to contribute.

Oral Proficiency: Ability to maintain everyday language use in practical community situations is given greatest precedent in this Strategy. This does not mean that waiata, karakia, written resources and linguistic analysis of manuscripts should be neglected. However, in order for active domains of reo use in communities to be achieved the ability to speak and understand local language is essential. In the first instance at least, sufficient oral proficiency must be more widespread for normal daily use to be accepted.

Priorities of Language Planning

When preparing for the ‘Mâori Language Strategy’ (2003), Bernard Spolsky and Steven Chrisp developed a language planning framework that was more appropriate to the needs of community. Prior to this Language Policy and Planning had mainly paid attention to three areas and governments have tended to focus on state institutional activities.

Language Status: this mostly relates to official legal status and the use of public relations initiatives to encourage more positive attitudes toward a threatened language.

Language Acquisition: this is particularly centred on formal education in schools and tertiary institutions in the form of academic subjects, qualifications or immersion/bi-lingual learning to encourage greater community participation and achievement.

Language Corpus: ‘Corpus’ is a linguistic term that refers to language based resources such as vocabulary, grammar, colloquial phrases, waiata, karakia, whakataukî, etc. Much of the activity in this area has been creating language learning resources i.e. books, audio and video recordings as well as dictionary projects and linguistic analysis.

Spolsky and Chrisp proposed the inclusion of two further areas of language planning and although government may have some role in them, they are more appropriately linked to community initiatives.

Critical Awareness: is the ability of people in the community to understand what reo revitalisation strategies need to be used, while understanding why those strategies are important and ways to overcome difficulties that arise when reo is being promoted and spoken.

Language Use: ‘Use’ of reo is the mainstay of revitalisation and is clearly the role of local communities making certain that the reo becomes a living and dynamic language of practical daily use.

The diagram above is how the five elements of language planning has been presented. There is considerable overlap between each of the five areas of activity. It implies that no activity is truly independent of the others, and especially the case for language use. The three blue zones are the previously recognised areas of Language Policy and Planning internationally. The two red zones of ‘language use’ and ‘critical awareness’ were proposed for inclusion by Spolsky and Chrisp for the 2003 Mâori Language Strategy. While they were suggested as five areas for the NZ government strategy they are also relevant for Iwi reo strategy. This is not just for alignment with government policy but because there is a body of research that demonstrates to relevance of each element as a framework for planning.

Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy Goals

The Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy has incorporated each of these elements of language planning as a structure for prioritisation and has, in effect, developed them as five inter-related strategic goals.

Te Mana o te Reo o Ngâti Porou (Status)

The distinctive variation of reo that exists among hapu groups between Potikirua and Te Toka-a-Taiau will be a pivotal component of local identity and pride for those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou.

Te Puna o te Reo o Ngâti Porou (Corpus)

The distinctive range of reo characteristics, patterns of reo use, inclusive of existing and future oral and written reo resources will be recognised and actively cultivated as the collective linguistic capacity of those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou.

Te Ako i te Reo o Ngâti Porou (Acquistion)

The achievement of high level proficiency in local forms of reo by those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou will be through natural intergenerational learning in immersion environments of the home and community and supported where needed by more formal learning activities.

Te Pûmau ki te Reo o Ngâti Porou (Critical Awareness)

The participation and commitment of advocates of reo revitalisation among communities who affiliate with Ngâti Porou will be motivated and guided by a shared understanding of the strategic intent of this plan and networks of support particularly in responding to difficulties that may arise.

Te Puaki o te Reo o Ngâti Porou (Use)

The re-establishment of local reo as living language will be achieved through active community use in a diverse range of settings accessible to those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou.

Prioritisation within each of the Strategy Goals

This prioritisation of activity does not imply these are the only activities to be initiated or goals to be achieved. It is recognised that over the first few years not all strategic approaches can be applied and after the first five years of operation the Strategy should be reviewed with consideration to current conditions and the effectiveness of the projects undertaken.

Te Mana o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

The distinctive variation of reo that exists among iwi groups between Potikirua and Te Toka-a-Taiau will be a pivotal component of local identity and pride for those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou.

Te Mana o te Reo

Strategic Priorities Needed to Achieve each Stage

Priority 1	Commitment for cultivating positive approaches for Ngâti Porou reo	Work to confirm agreement from all major reo focused bodies within Ngâti Porou to actively promote positive perceptions toward the diversity of reo through the rohe
Priority 2	Recognition of commitment made to advocating for Ngâti Porou reo	Present a brand or statement to the wider communities of the rohe and through Ngâti Porou networks that represents the commitment being made to revitalise Ngâti Porou reo.
Priority 3	Profile within the rohe that increases the status of Ngâti Porou reo	Provide high visibility and extensive discussion within the region about the importance and status that Ngâti Porou Iwi associates with the diversity and strength of local reo.
Priority 4	Exposure to Ngâti Porou reo in positive domains of reo use	Actively support events and environments where the use of Ngâti Porou Reo will be presented positively and community access to those domains will be high.
Priority 5	Alignment of policy in public services in the Ngâti Porou region with this Iwi reo strategy	Influence the implementation of public services offered in the region to ensure Ngâti Porou reo is prominent and staff are well prepared to recognise and apply the Strategy approaches in practice.

Te Mana o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Priorities for activity in increasing the status and relevance of the many regional forms of Ngâti Porou reo mainly deal with changing attitudes to more positive outlooks to what is achievable and build understanding about what Ngâti Porou reo has to contribute to a more full appreciation of local identity.

Project Description

Rationale for the undertaking

Priority 1

Incorporate a very strong and high profile reo component into an existing Iwi project that has full participation and good contribution to Ngâti Porou Identity in events such as:

· Annual Pâ Wars

· Ngata Lecture Series

· Hui Taurima

The primary aim of this initiative is to raise the profile of Ngâti Porou Reo in an activity that will have a very high existing level of participation from the wider population of Ngâti Porou. Emphasis is given to the types of activity that will be in immersion, encourage wide participation and present Ngâti Porou reo in a positive and informed manner.

Priority 2

Establish a brand or prominent statement to be strongly associated with the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy presented in a way that links local reo with local identity, represents the commitment of Ngâti Porou to the local reo forms, and instils pride among those you use it.

Linking the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy with a powerful and easily recognisable symbol of commitment and pride has an important task to support increased awareness of the strategic goals and to gain wider recognition for the importance of retaining local reo as distinct forms of living language diversity.

Priority 3

Apply some form of policy statement from Te Rûnanga o Ngâti Porou that reflects the commitment and leadership needed to drive the Iwi Reo Strategy. Policy consideration could include:

· reo development for staff

· recruitment reo preference

· use of reo in Rûnanga hui

There is a need to recognise the commitment made to the revitalisation of the diversity of reo that exists in Ngâti Porou. Groups such as the Rûnanga and its associated bodies are influencial in changing attitudes and language practices of communities and services within the region.

Te Puna o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Te Puna o te Reo

Strategic Priorities Needed to Achieve each Stage

Priority 1	Emphasis given to best practice for quality of reo capture, archive and managed access	Establish a set of working parameters for best practice in establishing and maintaining an Iwi-wide archive as well as a sequence of localised community archives that respond to issues of quality capture, intellectual property, archive integrity and effective management of access
Priority 2	Existing capacity among the few remaining native speakers of local forms of reo	Proceed with projects focused on capture and archiving of examples of localised forms of reo for future retention and increase potential for community access to high value samples of reo use
Priority 3	Local access to high value samples of local reo forms and local oral performance	Establish an accessible, community based repository of local reo that empowers local control and management. Priority is given to previously uncaptured examples of reo use and local oral performance e.g. waiata, karakia, etc.
Priority 4	Performance of local forms of reo use and oral performance	Establish settings where local reo is used to an increasingly high standard of performance in both traditional and contemporary contexts and with encouragement of progressive creative expression
Priority 5	Access samples of Ngâti Porou Reo and resources of oral performance	Provide managed archive access and develop selected local reo resources to wider community to promote positive attitudes and increase regional/national participation in the Iwi reo strategy

Te Puna o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

The wider scope of reo resources cover a broad range of linguistic and cultural elements and patterns of reo usage. The greatest priority in the first instance is in recording oral reo use among remaining native speaker, then the ability of communities to access kôrero that will assist them in building functional oral proficiency for the home and community to re-establish intergenerational transmission of local reo

Project Description

Rationale for the undertaking

Priority 1

Establish the capacity for oral language recording with emphasis on quality standards for use of equipment, tikanga for capturing kôrero and integrity of archive. Projects such as:

· Te Reo o Ngâti Porou Radio

· Iwi recording training

· equipment loan service

Oral language recording is the priority in the first instance to capture language resource from the few remaining native speakers of localised forms of Ngâti Porou reo. Once captured professionalism is required from those involved in editing, archive and management of the reo resource to maintain the support from the wider Iwi population.

Priority 2

Concentrate on projects with multiple reo outcomes such as collation of wordlists, recording of native speakers, identifying distinct local expressions and oral performance taonga in activities such as:

· Ngâ Tama Toa

· Ngata Lecture series

· Kâhui Pakeke Forums

Some activities that involve native speakers from various communities in Ngâti Porou will have greater potential to involve multiple outcomes in reo resource production. With limited time and resourcing it is essential to maximise the value for resource development especially for oral reo use in specialist or localised language forms.

Priority 3

Establish some form of online resource access facility with the capacity for community level contribution in activities such as:

· collation of wordlists

· oral history recordings

· examples of traditional oral performance e.g. waiata, haka

Enabling online resource access maximises participation & awareness of the wider project. It also recognises the strong presence of skills and expertise that exist in the dispersed Ngâti Porou population with the value of what they have to contribute. An online strategy will require very robust parameters for privacy and consent from contributors.

Te Ako i te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Te Ako i te Reo

Strategic Priorities Needed to Achieve each Stage

Priority 1	Support whânau and homes with the capacity to sustain intergenrational use of Ngâti Porou reo	Establish projects that develop best practice models and emphasise the support of whânau in Ngâti Porou with a high capacity to maintain reo use between caregivers and children
Priority 2	Capacity for use of Ngâti Porou reo among high proficiency speakers	Establish projects among existing local speakers that build high levels of proficiency in local forms of Ngâti Porou reo in practical activities aligned with everyday community use and areas of specialist activities of local identity (to sustain high proficiency local capacity)
Priority 3	Access of lower proficiency speakers to safe community based settings of reo use and acquisition	Establish a variety of community based activities where Ngâti Porou reo is used in supportive and achievable settings of shared interest that are accessible to broad sections of the Ngâti Porou population
Priority 4	Access of formal reo acquisition services to quality examples of Ngâti Porou reo	Develop and make accessible a range of practical reo resources that exemplify Ngati Porou reo in a broad range of reo use settings
Priority 5	Opportunity for the dispersed population of Ngâti Porou to access the acquisition of local forms of reo	Establish projects that provide for access of Ngâti Porou population from outside the region to become involved in activities for learning forms of local reo and to participate in localised immersion settings

Te Ako i te Reo o Ngâti Porou

The greatest importance will probably always be the maintenance of capacity within whânau to retain intergenerational transmission of local forms of Ngâti Porou reo in the home. Other services provided to build acquisition may be used to reach that objective or to develop areas of specialist skills in reo.

Project Description

Rationale for the undertaking

Priority 1

Priority is given to natural language acquisition from birth in the home environment. Whânau with current capacity for reo use will need to be supported and training made available for local whânau and prospective parents:

· Kâinga Kôrerorero

· Support for Kôhanga and Kura whânau in the home

Targeting whânau with existing reo capacity enables a rapid uptake for this initiative and establishes benchmarks of performance for prospective parents and whânau to aspire to. This activity needs to be for natural acquisition in the home and away from the formal learning in order to gain momentum behind community self-sustaining reo acquisition.

Priority 2

Provide strong support to Kura/Kôhanga immersion events that involve whole whânau participation. Support may be required for supporting caregivers with low proficiency to be enabled for participation. Events such as:

· Râ Tâkaro

· Regional Kapa haka comps

Priority is given to the ability of events to involve whole whânau in the events where reo use is expected and whânau member receive some support to build reo capacity within the designated activities prior to participation. Resourcing may be required to help Kura and Kôhanga to offer some form of training support to caregivers of their tamariki.

Priority 3

Establish community based localised reo intensive activity distributed through the region. Emphasis is given to supporting speakers living in locations where distinct reo forms are present. Activities may include:

· open community reo classes

· fishing, weaving, cooking wânanga delivered in reo only

· reo revitalisation planning workshops

Community ed. offers distinct benefits over formal tertiary education. The main things being local control of curriculum, community management of delivery & sustained access without restrictions of age, qualifications or institutional timetabling. Resourcing is a limiting factor, however if activities can be linked with existing projects or pastimes costs can be reduced.

Te Pûmau ki te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Te Pûmau ki te Reo

Strategic Priorities Needed to Achieve each Stage

Priority 1	Foundation of a strategic approach to the revitalisation of Ngâti Porou Reo	Gain support and promote understanding among reo focused groups associated with Ngâti Porou of the underlying rationale for the prioritised sequence of implementation the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy
Priority 2	Heightened level of critical awareness of revitalisation among Iwi leaders in the area of reo activity	Provide ongoing reo revitalisation training opportunities for Iwi reo leaders to extend knowledge and awareness of the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy while also providing a forum for active dialogue to maintain its relevance and alignment with various local reo community needs
Priority 3	High profile for core themes within the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy	Establish a plan for promoting the core themes of the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo Strategy in the wider community of the region, among the dispersed Ngâti Porou population and with Local-body and Central Government
Priority 4	Involve wider community in the review and development of the Iwi Reo Strategy	Provide discussion forums and regular opportunities for local communities to present feedback on the Strategy implementation and conduct structured evaluation of annual delivery of projects
Priority 5	Access to knowledge base generated within core strategy objectives for local communities and wider population	Establish training and research projects to identify and explore options available for increasing the Strategy effectiveness and better understanding of the local conditions in which Ngâti Porou reo functions

Te Pûmau ki te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Maintaining a high level of critical awareness about reo revitalisation is most important because it assists successful language planning particularly in overcoming obstacles that arise and have the potential to stymie continued progress with the shared Strategy.

Project Description

Rationale for the undertaking

Priority 1	Offer some form of recognition or award with high status for people of Ngâti Porou who show influential leadership in achieving outcomes within the scope of the Strategy, The awards may be presented at a key regional event such as the annual Pâ Wars or the Ngata Lecture Series.	Recognising contribution is important for generating awareness about what types of activity make the greatest contribution. This may not always be the leaders out in front or high level managers. There may be various categories that cover speakers who exemplify local reo forms, voluntary workers who maintain the integrity of the Iwi archive, record the most oral reo, or support local community hui.
Priority 2	Initiate a series of language planning training intensives for Iwi leaders and community drivers of localised reo projects. Priorities for activity include familiarisation with the content and rationale of the Strategy, developing localised reo plans and long-term strategic coordination of inter/intra regional projects	From the outset it is critical that key Iwi drivers of community activity on-the-ground are aware of this Strategy. The results of the planning must be well focused on community use and control. There will also be difficulty in prioritising the expenditure of limited resources that may be misinterpreted by those outside. Although the intensity of the training may be high to start with it is likely that some form of training and review will be ongoing.
Priority 3	Establishment of a regular reo focused forum for intensive discussion and hearing research insights. The forum may be in the form of a wânanga or a conference, the main focus being regular updating of the Ngâti Porou Iwi Reo objectives.	A more formal conference or Ngâti Porou reo day/week will offer time to discuss innovative approaches, consider changes in state policy and review current strategy progress. There are opportunities to inspire youth to study reo revitalisation and develop careers that contribute to it.

Te Puaki o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

The re-establishment of local reo as living language will be achieved through active community use in a diverse range of settings accessible to those who affiliate with Ngâti Porou.

Te Puaki o te Reo

Strategic Priorities Needed to Achieve each Stage

Priority 1	Domains with a high potential for supporting increased intergenerational reo use	Establish/support community-based immersion settings where adults and children come into regular contact and there is less reliance of state funding
Priority 2	Self-sustaining reo use practices and encouraging local enthusiasm for reo use	Promote the establishment of immersion settings under local control and recognise local achievement in implementation of revitalisation-based strategies
Priority 3	Support youth with well developed proficiency to take on leadership roles in community projects	Provide direct support for involving and encouraging youth with high proficiency through mentoring programmes, recognising achievement and proactive inclusion of youth within Iwi Reo Strategy operations
Priority 4	Established practice for sustained reo immersion	Support established activities with sustained use of reo immersion over long periods of time or in recurrent practice of reo use that builds high proficiency
Priority 5	Participation of wider Ngâti Porou population in reo rich activities	Establish and support important Iwi events and activities that are able to involve a high level of reo use particularly in events that involve wide cross-sections of participation

Te Puaki o te Reo o Ngâti Porou

Of all the approaches this strategic goal is the most relevant for the participation of local communities. By taking control of local domains of reo use and managing relationships and local attitudes this has the greatest potential for establish normal everyday conditions for retaining localised forms of reo use as a living and vibrant language.

Project Description

Rationale for the undertaking

Priority 1

Support the creation or maintenance of existing reo domains in local community that function in immersion. Support may include help with:

· funding applications or sponsorship

· use of equipment/resources

· promotion/planning

· specialist guest speakers or supporting youth to attend

Without high value reo only environments in the local areas the communities will struggle to retain active use of their local reo form. There may be a tendency to think that if enough samples of local reo are captured then its future will be assured. While it may be possible to resurrect a lost reo form people may not appreciate how extremely difficult it is to do. The best shot they have to retain it is to create and maintain domains of sustained use in practice.

Priority 2

Establish challenges between marae, hapû or local communities in reo oral skills such as whaikôrero, debate, waiata composition, kauhau, reciting karakia incorporated into local events or group activity such as Pâ Wars, Ngata Lectures, Church activities, kapa haka, râ tâkaro, etc.

Many communities are naturally competitive between each other and challenges provide the opportunity to raise the bar in performance while reinforcing local identity and pride in whakapapa connections. It also allows for oral skills to be recognised as having high status and value. The Strategy may seek to enhance existing initiatives with prizes or trophies.

Priority 3

Conduct a Ngâti Porou Iwi audit of localised areas of expertise, local/regional organisations. Priority is given to identifying existing reo capacity and opportunities to share skills between local communities or to offer additional training support for their activities to be more effective in using Ngâti Porou reo.

If the wider region and whakapapa networks can be mobilised to support this skill audit with special interest in capacity to contribute to reo revitalisation this may not be an overly expensive exercise. By mapping existing native speakers, people with local expertise and strategy related skills a better plan can be achieved to cover the whole region and include the dispersed population of Ngâti Porou.

Areas Impacting on Strategy Effectiveness

As this Strategy was being designed many areas of critical importance, difficulty or risk were identified. They are listed here to highlight the pressures that come to bear on the Strategy in fulfilling its intent. By making these issues known it will help in considering other potential threats that may emerge and provides the opportunity for greater discussion in finding solutions or proposing further successful initiatives. Some of the more prominent issues discussed were:

Awareness

Generally Iwi reo strategies run counter to prevailing perceptions that past Governments have been instrumental in undermining Mâori language and therefore should take a leading responsibility for restoring its status and use. Since the renaissance of Mâori culture and identity in the 1980’s much of the emphasis has been on state institutions and services role in revitalising reo Mâori. This strategy advances the position that Iwi groups and community initiatives be the primary focus for the revitalisation of Ngâti Porou reo.

Promotion

There is no real value in developing a strategic approach that few people know of or understand. This document targets those who are active in our communities and seeks to inform decision-makers locally and nationally of Ngâti Porou’s intent to take a leading role in driving reo revitalisation initiatives in our rohe and in support of Iwi descendants.

Access

Ngâti Porou has a highly dispersed population and communities who remain within the region are comparatively isolated. Activities will need to consider the ability for people to become involved or gain access to services or resources. It is feasible that technology may offer support and whânau/marae level activity will naturally incorporate existing whakapapa networks. Further, there is strong support to ensure that reo initiatives are centred within the traditional boundaries of Ngâti Porou.

Participation

A living language requires sustained interaction in normal domains of reo use. In essence, the revitalisation of Ngâti Porou reo must have the regular participation of multiple generations of whânau members to support long-term self-supporting reo use. Strategies must consider establishing the expectation that Ngâti Porou reo will be spoken in specific contexts particularly those that involve whole whânau and hapû groups. For those living outside the region this will be difficult, but in the first instance sustained reo use must be established in local communities of the rohe.

Community Buy-in

Very little within this Strategy is achievable without enthusiatic involvement from communities spread through the rohe. It may not be feasible to roll out initiatives that involve everyone to start with and so it will be important to demonstrate how the reo planning works in practice. This will require some community groups to take on some of the initiatives early in the planning. Determining where to start with the initial projects may be problematic in gaining further buy-in from other areas.

Local Control

Reo revitalisation relates to the empowerment of community level control of reo environments. Even though there is a need to manage this Strategy, centralised control from an external body will not be capable of supporting daily practice in local communities. Local projects need to be driven and controlled by those communities however there may be limited infrastructure to support the initiatives communities want to undertake.

Resourcing

The obvious factor in supporting a widespread implementation of this strategy is the availability of resources, particularly human, language and financial based resources. This strategy does not identify a certain level of resourcing to be successful. Instead it seeks to extend implementation as resources become available or restrict the plan as they reduce. However it is also recognised that the nature of a strategy is to provide sound rationale for the plan to help gain access to increased resourcing and to assist with prioritisation of activities to ensure the most effective approaches are considered first.

Recognising Achievement

One of the reasons why there may have been less investment in ‘Critical Awareness’ and ‘Language Use’ of language strategies is the difficulty in providing evidence for measuring success. Not only do funding bodies often require measurable outcomes, but within the Iwi itself there is an expectation that resources are used effectively. Furthermore, communities will need to see successful outcomes to gain confidence in the Strategic Plan. There are no easy answers to this dilemma because measuring success often uses up more resources than what is used in the project. It has been suggested that high profile strategies with high numbers of participation be given greater priority to start with in order for more people to have firsthand experience of the outcomes and allow word of mouth to help communicate achievement.