Hon Aupito Toeolesulusulu Tofae Su’a
William Sio

As far back as the 1970s, I have seen many Pacific language pioneers stand their ground and cut across the challenging winds of the dominating English speaking world to create a pathway for Pacific languages and cultures to thrive and grow in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite colonisation and the pressure to prioritise English to succeed, these pioneers held fast to their belief that Pacific languages and cultures are the cornerstone of our wellbeing. They knew that when Pacific languages and cultures thrive, our communities thrive, and Aotearoa becomes a better place for everyone.

When I consider these pioneers, I think of: Mama Tupou Manapori of Hillary College staying after school hours to pass on her language and cultural knowledge to her Cook Islands students; Mama Mere Tepaeru Tereora setting up the first Punanga o Te Reo early childhood programme for Cook Islands
tamariki; le Afioga ia Tofaeono Tanuvasa Tavale QSM who enabled access to gagana Samoa by creating language resources and championing the first nationwide Samoan Language Week led by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and Radio Samoa in Auckland; and the teachers and  community leaders behind the first vagahau Niue bilingual unit established in 2021 at Favona Primary School. These milestones have given us a firm foundation upon which we must continue to build. A dire trend has emerged in the past several decades – Pacific languages are in decline, and many are in danger of being lost altogether.

But we are not alone in this journey, and we acknowledge indigenous languages globally, including tangata whenua of Aotearoa experiencing the journey of loss and hope in championing their reo. Together, Māori and Pacific are like braided rivers, flowing towards Te-Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa which binds our special relationship as peoples of the vast blue Pacific Ocean with shared whakapapa, customs, values, spiritual beliefs, languages, and cultures. This special bond continues to grow from strength to strength as our families/aiga converge and a growing number of our tamariki share Māori and Pacific whakapapa and heritage. This is a distinct strength we offer the world.

We look to our Māori whānau who are world leading in their language revitalisation efforts, and seek to journey with them, learn from them, and fulfil our responsibility to manaaki their ongoing endeavour to see te reo Māori thrive.

Aotearoa New Zealand is also unique in that we are a Pacific nation, and home to one of the largest Pacific populations in the world – this comes with a responsibility to protect and promote the languages of our Pacific communities.

The Pacific Languages Strategy 2022 – 2032 is the first of its kind in Aotearoa, and takes a long-term approach to coordinate support for Pacific languages across government, communities, and key stakeholders.