Cook Islands Language Week: Call to reclaim te reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani for future generations

Cook Islands communities across Aotearoa New Zealand are celebrating their language and culture with a renewed call to protect and pass on te reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani to future generations.

Running from 2 to 8 August, the theme for this year's ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani - Cook Islands Māori Language Week is "Me kite koe i te tuatua i to'ou reo tupuna, e turanga rangatira tena nō'ou no te uki amuri atu" - "With our language as our foundation, we will embrace the future."

Opening celebrations were held on Sunday at St Luke's Pacific Island Presbyterian Church in Tokoroa, home to one of New Zealand's largest Cook Islands communities.

Cook Islands communities across Aotearoa are celebrating the start of Cook Islands Māori Language Week, with this year's theme encouraging people to embrace their ancestral language as the foundation for future generations. Photo/MPP

Community events also took place in Wellington where the Cook Islands High Commission joined families to officially launch the week.

Cook Islands High Commissioner, Kairangi Samuela, said the country's diaspora plays a vital role in keeping the language and culture alive.

"Our diaspora is an integral part of the Cook Islands," she said. "Their contributions strengthen our people, culture, and economy.

Cook Islands Māori Language Week: celebrations include traditional songs, dances and cultural activities, passing on language and customs to younger generations. Photo/Facebook/

"Events like these provide an important opportunity to reconnect, celebrate our identity, and ensure our language and traditions continue to thrive for future generations."

Celebrations will continue throughout the week with events in Wellington, Hastings, Auckland, Dunedin and other centres, including cultural performances, language activities, workshops and community gatherings.

The Ministry for Pacific Peoples says Cook Islands Language Week is about encouraging people to speak, learn and celebrate te reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani while strengthening connections to culture, identity and heritage.

Watch Gideon Ngatua aka DJ Giddy and Kaiui Tukinga aka Manea dat ting chat about Cook Islands Language Week on PMN Cook Islands below.

The message is especially important in Aotearoa where the majority of Cook Islanders now live.

According to the 2023 Census, 94,176 people of Cook Islands heritage live in New Zealand, compared with a resident population of about 13,000 in the Cook Islands.

Dr Akevai Nicholas, a leading Indigenous linguist says Language Week is also about helping people let go of the shame that often comes with not speaking their ancestral language.

"People carry a lot of shame about not knowing their language," she said in a report published by the University of Auckland.

Indigenous linguist Dr Akevai Nicholas, pictured left, says Cook Islands Māori Language Week is a chance for people to reconnect with their ancestral language, reminding those who did not grow up speaking te reo that "the opportunity exists now to reconnect."

"But if you are a descendant of one of these communities and you don't know your heritage language, that's not because of something you have done."

Nicholas, a senior lecturer in Māori Studies at the university, says many families lost their language because of historical decisions that discouraged Indigenous languages from being spoken at home and in schools.

"You didn't choose the circumstances that separated you from your language," she said. "What matters is that the opportunity exists now to reconnect."

Across the country, libraries, churches, schools and community groups are hosting activities throughout the week, from tivaevae demonstrations and traditional 'ei katu weaving workshops to dance, music and language lessons.

The celebrations coincide with Cook Islands Constitution Day on Tuesday 4 August, giving communities another opportunity to honour both the nation's self-government and the language that continues to connect Cook Islanders across generations and across the Pacific.

For more information on the 2026 Cook Islands Māori Language Week, visit mpp.govt.nz

Photo/Auckland Libraries Talanoa