Journalist, playwright, author and producer Chris Winitana (Ngāti Tuwharetoa and Ngai Tuhoe) was presented with the New Zealand Post Māori Language Award for his book, 'Tōku Reo, Tōku Ohooho : My Language, My Inspiration'; a book that explores the struggle to save the Māori language over the last 40 years.
New Zealand Post Book Awards judge and Māori language advisor, Paora Tibble said that as a te reo Māori publication, 'Tōku Reo, Tōku Ohooho' is groundbreaking.
'Chris Winitana mixes traditional language with modern metaphors. He shows te reo Māori as a living language; creating new contexts for words and phrases buried in our not too distant past. His knowledge of te reo is remarkable. With this book, Chris Winitana takes us on the adventure of a lifetime. For 40 years, Māori have fought to revitalise their language. This is their story.'
As Chris describes his work, 'This book weaves together the many independent threads of action undertaken by a great number of people to ensure the survival of the Maori language. It follows the efforts of Maori from 1972 and the petition for the Maori language to bring our language out of the shadows and into the light'.
'Toku Reo, Toku Ohooho' is also available in an English edition 'My Language, My Inspiration'.