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E ngā mana, e nga reo
E ngā pia hāhau i ngā ikeike o te mātauranga 
Tēnā koutou katoa.

Tēnei a owha e rere atu nei ki a koutou katoa e noho ana i raro i te māramatanga o Tāne-te-wānanga. E tika ana kia mihia koutou katoa e kōkiri ana i ngā tini kaupapa e kite ai i te oranga tonutanga o tō tātou reo me ā tātou tikanga puta noa i te motu whānui.

I grew up in a family which was shaped by a cultural landscape drawn from both a Māori and wider Pacific heritage. My own family experienced language loss after only three generations following European contact. Reversing this trend in my family has meant becoming involved in language revitalisation strategies, particularly through educational initiatives such as Te Kōhanga Reo (early childhood Māori language immersion centres), Kura Kaupapa Māori (elementary Māori language immersion schools), Wharekura (Māori language immersion high schools) and, in my life as an academic in a university context, through writing policy to empower students to write their assignments, dissertations and theses in the Māori language.

The establishment of Te Ipukarea Research Institute and Te Whare o Rongomaurikura - Centre for Language Revitalisation, enables my colleagues and me to take our passion for language revitalisation to another level; to use our knowledge and expertise in supporting other communities globally to revitalise their own minoritised and endangered languages and cultures. Our work has enabled us to develop fruitful relationships with extraordinary people and organisations and begin to build a global forum from which we can work collaboratively toward a common goal of seeing endangered languages and cultures revitalised.

Professor Tania Ka'ai (PhD)

Te Ihorei | Director