“There is one language, the language of the Pacific. We are all speaking dialects.”

Those were the resonant words of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Chief Executive, Ngahiwi Apanui, addressing KOLOA conference at Due Drops Event Centre yesterday. The long term prosperity of Pacific languages was the topic of the day at the first KOLOA language fono, where 300 leaders representing all of the Pacific met for a full day of talanoa and learning.

In its opening keynote, Dr Anae Neru Leavasa MP discussed the fundamental role that Pacific languages play for upholding cultural values.

“It takes one generation to lose a language, and three to gain it back,” said Dr Leavasa.

“Our language is an important bridge between our place in modern Aotearoa and our stories as Pacific peoples. I want to say to our Pacific communities that we hear you. We hear the passion and commitment that we have for our languages, we hear the call for better pathways in our education system that draw on our Pacific languages as keys to success.”

He went on to discuss the additional funding for Pacific languages promised in budget 2023, to be shared between Pacific media and other forms of technology and education.

The fono was also an opportunity for celebration, with incredible dancing from Ura Tabu group, as well as keynotes from the likes of Pacific media royalty Sefita Hao’uli, Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn- Dunlop, as well as various panels from across the community spectrum.

The convergence of technology and education was a keenly discussed topic among all speakers throughout the day, both for its positive and negative attributes. One panel examined the potential role of innovation for language learning in the future and in its current form via social media.

Panellist Randy Liuvaie, whose channel online channels he runs with his daughter noted:

“People spend a lot of time on their devices. During the pandemic, realising my daughter was watching lots of videos, I thought why don’t we make our own teaching Niuean?

We need to think of refreshed ways that more of us can be doing this,” said Liuvaie.

 

It was a sentiment shared by keynote speaker Dr Salainaoloa Wilson-Uili, who discussed the need to better understand and communicate why learning one’s mother tongue is so important.

Wilson-Uili, who was raised learning exclusively Gagana Sāmoa in the home, gave an anecdote from her childhood, where another adult chastised her parents for not teaching her English earlier.

 

“There has been a disconnect between ‘value’ and ‘usefulness’ for our languages. People saw the value, but not its use. We’re starting to see the shift happening,” said Dr Wilson-Uili.

While the importance of language transcends many traditional economic arguments, Treasury Chief advisor Su'a Kevin Thomsen made the point during a panel on language strategy that there are clear financial incentives for language maintenance.

“Research has found that bilingualism adds $3.3 billion to the economy of Canadian provinces New Brunswick and Quebec. There is a strong argument globally for the benefits of multi-language societies. The next challenge for us is to gather the evidence to put into our machinery that says ‘if we do this, then here is the benefit that the country will see’ both economically and socially,” said Thomsen.

Maori language kaumatua Ngahiwi Apanui spoke of Aotearoa’s lofty 1 million speakers by 2040 target, noting that these goals are only possible with widespread learning from non ethnic speakers.

“Te reo maori is who we are. Your language is who you are. We are going to need a lot of non-Maori people speaking our language to achieve that goal. The more people that speak your language, the more mana it has, and we need to be thinking like that,” said Apanui.

He went on to remark on the similarities shared between all of the languages of the Pacific.

“I remember my first polynesian languages forum in Hawaii many years ago. My Pacific brothers and sisters got up and shared their languages, and I understood what was being said. We share a DNA.”