Using te reo Māori in everyday life   

This award celebrates community based kaupapa that have encouraged the use of te reo Māori as a normal, everyday, living language.

Hei Tauira:

Nominees may be sports clubs or teams who have committed to ‘upping’ their use of te reo in training and games, community groups that offer bilingual or immersion hobby or interest meet-ups that grow and normalise te reo, public art projects that centre on te reo Māori use, creating new or translating resources for community that have previously only been available in English or Councils who have committed to becoming bi-lingual towns.   

Championing te reo Māori learning    

This award recognises individuals, groups or organisations who have inspired and motivated others to learn te reo Māori.

Hei Tauira:

Nominees may be inspiring kaiako, reo Māori community classes, workplace strategies to grow kaimahi skills in te reo Māori, or online campaigns that boost learning. This can also include intergenerational transmission and first language kaupapa, or learning te reo Māori as a second language through early learning, through to tertiary level and online teaching.

Uplifting te reo Māori    

This award recognises kaupapa in the private sector that encourage people to support and value te reo Māori and see it as a key part of our national identity.

Hei Tauira:

Nominees may be businesses who have built te reo Māori into their mahi and interactions with New Zealanders, creating bilingual product lines, moving to prominent bilingual signage, integrating te reo into a large public events, increasing te reo Māori content or commentary on international profile games, correcting long-held mispronunciation or spelling in a business name or product, introducing te reo Maori as part of their service offerings or how they do business everyday i.e. bilingual banking apps.

Promoting te reo Māori awareness    

This award recognises outstanding efforts to ensure people are aware te reo Māori is endangered and understand how they can play a role in revitalising it. 

Hei Tauira:

Nominees may be researchers, academics, public advocates, online campaigns, education initiatives, public education campaigns, information profiles or community activities that raise awareness and understanding of the state of te reo Māori, and encourage all New Zealanders to ‘give te reo a go’, ‘use as much as you can’ or even inspire a lifelong path in learning te reo Māori. 

Supporting the richness of te reo Māori    

This award acknowledges that hundreds of new words enter languages every year, and te reo Māori is no different, thanks to the talented people and innovative projects that create and promote them.

Hei Tauira:

Nominees may be translators, lexicon and vocabulary developers, academics, linguists, musicians, poets, artists, content creators, bilingual resource developers, creators of online glossaries, dictionaries, translation tools, publishers etc.    

Exemplifying leadership and outstanding advocacy for te reo Māori   

This award recognises those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, going above and beyond in their commitment to championing te reo Māori.