Photo: Supplied
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori runs September 12 to 19 and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Māori Language Petition. Begun in 2019, the week has also become a celebration of Waiata Anthems with 20 new waiata just released from emerging and well known musicians, as well as a documentary series on TVNZ.
Described as "the OG of kapa haka competition", Sir Tīmoti Kāretu was the country’s first Māori Language Commissioner, a petition signatory, and the mentor for Waiata Anthems project. For him waiata is the perfect vehicle for te reo Māori, translating many songs from English to te reo for the project, helping write the Six60 song 'Pepeha', and translating for Lorde.
Sir Tīmoti joins Kim to play some of his favourite waiata.
