Breaking barriers - The Youth MP fighting for the future of te reo Māori

By Korus MacDonald, Youth Press Gallery, New Zealand Youth Parliament

Photo Caption: Emma-Grace Yule, Youth MP

In recent years, numerous barriers have inhibited the normalisation of te reo Māori, and its effects on our communities and rangatahi/young people only continue to intensify. Youth MP, Emma-Grace Yule, hopes to change that.

Te reo Māori is more than just a language, it’s a way of life and taonga (treasure). It’s a taonga which has solidified its importance within the fabric of New Zealand society. However, as our country continues to develop, it faces major barriers, posing a threat to the future of Māori reo, culture, and identity.

For Emma-Grace Yule, this is an issue she is determined to fight for, breaking down the barriers preventing the normalisation of taonga like te reo Māori and Mātauranga Māori.

Yule is a Year 13 student at Avonside Girls' High School, and the Youth MP representative for Reuben Davidson. She is a strong advocate who wishes to ignite positive change and impact. As such, she is a part of a local media outlet known as Create Happy Media, which gives her space to express her passions.

"I get this amazing creative outlet to write about things I'm passionate about or things that are important to me." Yule says.

Her role as a Youth MP began unexpectedly. "My history teacher was just like, 'Hey, you should sign up for this, and I was like, 'Sure.' I didn't think anything of it, and then now I'm here," she admits. Now, Yule is using the platform to address barriers and invoke change.

She is enthusiastic about empowering youth to use their voice. "I'm so, so passionate about empowering youth to speak up on things. It's so important to me that youth are empowered to, I guess, be activists for their community, for the things that, the issues they see, and just, yeah, really be loud and stand in what they're passionate about."

As a proud activist herself, combined with her Māori whakapapa and the journey connected to that, the topic of widespread normalisation and adoption of te reo Māori and the barriers that hinder its progress was one of utmost intrigue for Yule.

Yule 's journey in reclaiming a sense of reconnection with her reo and culture has been significantly hindered by intergenerational loss and mirrors the experiences of many Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

"I was so scared the first time I went into my te reo Māori class in year 11," she recalls. "Because I was like, 'Oh my goodness, I know nothing. I know very little about my whakapapa.'"

But this barrier isn't just limited to academics; for Yule, it has affected many aspects of her life. And she doesn't want that to be the status quo for successive generations. "I've lost a lot of culture and language through it just not being passed down to me," she explains.

"But that's a big foundation of going, 'I don't want my future kids to have to deal with that, and I want them to be able to feel free to use te reo Māori whenever and it not be an embarrassing thing, or they don't feel whakamā to use it because it's their right to.'" Yule says.

She believes that the successful normalisation of Te Reo begins with empowering the rangatahi of the present. "When you start getting this generation to learn their language, that then gets passed onto future generations, and it's kind of that; it takes a while. I think there's a statistic around, 'It takes one generation to lose language and three or four to gain it back.'” Yule states. But, if we start it now, then, yeah, it'll certainly be used more and more." Accessibility, Yule argues, is essential. "I think it is really important for the government to support that and support the learning of te reo Māori, because at the end of the day, people can only learn what's accessible to them, and when te reo Māori isn't accessible, that is another struggle that feeds into it." Yule says.

The infringement of stigmatic judgement and hate towards the language is another key barrier Yule hopes to address.

"I've been put down when I've been trying to reclaim my culture, and I have been told I'm 'plastic' or too 'white' or too this or that and the next thing, and it's so important to me that no one feels like Māori isn't for them." Yule acknowledges.

In a survey conducted by Yule, she found that this stigmatic hate permeated the lives of all – not just Māori. "Reading some of the responses I've already gotten from the survey around some people who are non-Māori that have always wanted to learn te reo Māori but feel that they'll be judged and that sort of thing," Yule states. "And really just wanting to wipe that away, because it's really, Māori, te reo Māori is such an inclusive culture, and it's really important to me that people know that and honour that, whether they're Māori or non-Māori, like a judgement-free zone kind of thing." she says.

Embracing te reo is one thing, but the genuine use of it is another. Tokenistic gestures surrounding the language continue to increase, and Yule is no stranger to this phenomenon. "It's kind of fallen into this rhythm of, 'Oh, this is just how we start and finish emails,' or whatever it is, whereas actually the language holds so much more power." Yule says.

"Having a foundation of the beauty of the language and the culture around the language is really, really important, so it's not just about the words; it's also about knowing why you're speaking it and knowing why it's so valuable for people, yeah, to see their language being used."

As she prepares to represent her community on the national stage, Yule's message remains clear: the future of te reo Māori relies on the collective response of all of us against these barriers. And that starts now. "It's a huge mindset change that needs to happen” she says.… “It also needs to be a mindset change of 'Māori are not the stereotypes that they've been depicted as for so long.'"

By breaking down the barriers which once silenced her, Yule is proving what's possible when rangatahi / young people lead with purpose and devotion. The fight for te reo Māori's future is far from over, but with voices like Yule’s, that future is looking brighter than ever.