2009 Survey of Attitudes, Values and Beliefs ... - Te Puni Kokiri

Table 16: Participation in selected Language and Culture related activities - non-Mäori and Mäori
% Often/very often Non-Mäori
500
%
Mäori
1031
%
Read/browse Mäori magazines (e.g. Tü mai, Mana) 3 39
Listen to Iwi Radio (Mäori Radio) 3 30
Watch or listen to the Mäori Television Station 26 63
Watch or listen to the Te Reo television channel 13 50
Access websites about Mäori culture 6 31
Access websites that contain Mäori language resources 9 31
Attend ceremonies or events with Mäori welcomes and speeches 23 56
Visit Mäori art, culture or historical exhibits 21 40
37
Go to kapa haka or Mäori culture group concerts 7 41
Go to a marae 8 58
Total may exceed 100% because of multiple responses
The lack of engagement by non-Mäori in language and cultural experiences is reflected also in
Table 17. Previous sections of this report have noted a tendency for non-Mäori to be less likely
than Mäori to engage in Mäori language activities. It is not surprising therefore that one of the
strongest responses from non-Mäori for the question ‘what do you believe you personally should
do to support the Mäori language’ was to do ‘nothing’ (21%). Comparatively, only 4 percent of
Mäori responded to this statement. Despite the strong theme from non-Mäori of not wanting
to do anything to support Mäori language development, there was also positive feedback that
overall suggests that the non-Mäori population are receptive to the idea of contributing in some
form to Mäori language revitalisation. The four most common themes slanted positively towards
Mäori language revitalisation were:
• 24% indicated an interest to learn Mäori – compared to 40% Mäori;
• 16% indicated an interest to learn to pronounce Mäori words and place names – compared to
5% Mäori;
• 17% indicated an interest to have a positive attitude towards Mäori language being spoken –
compared to 9% Mäori; and
• 12% indicated an interest to support and encourage kids and others to learn and speak Mäori
– compared to 26% Mäori.
The Mäori population were less likely than the non-Mäori population to personally express an
interest to learn correct pronunciation of the Mäori language. Likewise, results for the Mäori
population indicate less interest in fostering positive attitudes towards the Mäori language. Both
observations seem to contradict the overall strong support of the Mäori population to increase
language use. These findings may in fact indicate an assumption by the Mäori population that
their pronunciation of the Mäori language is already sufficient and does not need extra attention.
With the issue of positivity towards the Mäori language, it is possible that the Mäori population
consider this as being secondary to language use and therefore more greatly concerns the non-
Mäori population – who are less active learners and speakers of the Mäori language.
d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n m ä o r i a n d n o n - m ä o r i