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National | Hawke's Bay

Tātere MacLeod is keen to keep Kahungunu reo alive

Tātere MacLeod is the only one in three generations to speak Te Reo Māori and he's determined not to make it a fourth.

He's completed a 40,000 word thesis "Te Rautaki Reo Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu" for his Masters at Waikato University, which analyses the state of Te Reo Māori in Ngāti Kahungunu, almost a decade on since its reo strategy was launched.

At the age of 18, he left his Brisbane home where he was born and raised to embark on his language journey here in New Zealand.

Now, ten years on, he's gone from not knowing a single word to being one of the pou for Te Reo Māori.

Spearheading the reo strategy of Ngāti Kahungunu his research highlighted areas of improvement, if the language is to survive.