KMK Strategy

Kotahi Mano Kāika, Kotahi Mano Wawata (KMK) is the Kāi Tahu Māori language revitalisation strategy. It is a 25-year strategy which aims to have at least 1000 Kāi Tahu households speaking te reo Māori by the year 2025.

KMK supports Kāi Tahu families to learn the language and more importantly use the language as the everyday way that families communicate in their homes. By doing this we hope that intergenerational transfer of the language will occur. This gives our language greater life expectancy going into the future.

View the KMK 5-year plan (PDF, 840KB)

What is Intergenerational Transfer?

Intergenerational transfer is when a language is passed down from one generation to another i.e. parents to children, as the main form of communication.

For a language to survive, intergenerational transfer must occur!!!

KMK wants to support Kāi Tahu families to become Māori speaking families who pass the language on to their children and grandchildren. It's about raising a Generation Reo, a generation of Māori language speakers, who will in turn be supported to create another generation of Māori language speakers and ensure the survival of our language going into the future.

Our language is at serious risk. What are you doing about it?

Why have a Strategy?

The Māori language is an endangered language and within the Kāi Tahu population this is most evident. Of all iwi, Kāi Tahu has the worst statistics for the health of the language with less than 1% of the tribe claiming to be competent speakers of the language.

In order to change this Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu developed the KMK strategy to try and reverse the degradation of the language and increase the number of speakers within the tribe who were using the language as the main form of communication in their homes and with their children. The main aim is to bring about intergenerational transfer of the language and give te reo Māori a greater chance of surviving for future generations of Kāi Tahu - mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei.

Language in the Home

For the language to survive it needs to become a normal part of daily life. This needs to start in the home and be based with whānau, as this is where intergenerational transfer of the language occurs.

What are you doing in your home? Introduce your family to te reo today!

Why take part in KMK?

KMK is about the revival of our language. It's about creating a generation of Māori language speakers who support and sustain the health of the language going into the future. As a fundamental base of our culture and heritage, the health of the language also directly contributes to the strength of our own identities as Kāi Tahu, as Māori.

Everyone has a part to play. The more people who get on board, the more chances our language has of surviving. It can't be left to the few, we need everyone to make the effort.

If you aren't already registered with KMK, do so today by going to the www.kmk.maori.nz website and register online.

Do something today! It only takes one generation to lose a language.