I’m proud to live in Porirua where we celebrate the diverse cultures that make up our beautiful city.
This Monday we begin the first of 2019’s Pacific Language Weeks – Sāmoa Language Week. After English, Sāmoan is Porirua’s second most used language, spoken by one in 10 people in our city.
We’ll start the week’s celebrations with a flag raising ceremony at the Peace Memorial at Te Rauparaha Park on Monday 27 May at 8am – all are welcome.
There’ll be lots happening in and around our city and the Wellington region for this and each of the Pacific Language Weeks – Sāmoan, Cook Islands, Tongan, Tuvalu, Fiji, Niue and Tokelau.
We know there are also many other languages spoken in Porirua – we are truly multicultural.
The United Nations has declared 2019 as Year of Indigenous Languages and we’re building on the work we’ve done to increase the use of Te Reo Māori in Porirua.
Last year we released our first bilingual signs and more of these are going up around the city, as part of our partnership with Ngāti Toa.
This year is a chance to celebrate the taonga that is Te Reo Māori – at Matariki, during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, and in everyday life.
The language week dates are:
Samoa: 26 May – 1 June
Cook Islands: 4–10 August
Tonga: 1–7 September
Māori: 9–15 September
Tuvalu: 29 September – 5 October
Fijian: 6–12 October
Niue: 13–19 October
Tokelau: 27 October – 2 November
We’ll be working with Ngāti Toa Rangatira, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples and the community to make the language weeks happen.
Check our Facebook page for what’s happening each week.
Manuia le vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa – happy Samoan Language Week.
23 May 2019
