Moriori are seeking support for the creation of an officially recognised Moriori language week in Aotearoa and have started a petition to see if Kiwis will support the idea.
Hokotehi Moriori Trust, the mandated Imi authority for Moriori people, believe the language week will help promote their language and culture and dispel myths.
“We are hoping to use that week as a platform to showcase Moriori language, traditions, and contributions. And to dispel the commonly held myths about our ancestors and their history that are still regularly repeated by many New Zealanders to slander Māori,” the trust said in a release Thursday.
The trust which represents Moriori people – the descendants of Rongomaiwhenua and Rongomaitere on the islands of Rēkohu and Rangihaute (Chatham Islands), in New Zealand and elsewhere - says Aotearoa already observes many other officially recognised language weeks.
“Moriori stand with their Māori and Pacific Island hunau (family) and support their individual language weeks, and we hope to follow in their footsteps to find similar recognition for our language.”
The trust says it’s heartened by the response it has received to its petition.
“We have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest we have received so far. I would encourage you to have a look at the number of signatures and the comments they have left behind.”
More than 2300 people have signed the petition since it was created three weeks ago, just short of the 2500 target.
“It deserves to be recognised, acknowledged and honoured as all other language weeks we celebrate are,” one person who left a comment said.
Another said, “I would love to be educate[d] on Moriori culture and language”, while someone else wrote that “Indigenous languages and cultures should always be preserved and nurtured..always.”