Munn, from Tauranga, provided a whakatauk\u012b (proverb) to usher in the 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n
\u201cKo te reo te r\u0101kau i hinga ai te k\u016bpapa.\u201d Translated: The language is the weapon that fells the collaborator.<\/p>\n
\u201cReo is resistance, full stop,\u201d Munn said.<\/p>\n
The theme of Te Wiki o Te Reo M\u0101ori, \u201cake ake ake\u201d, translates to \u201ca forever language\u201d. <\/p>\n
Munn said: \u201cLanguage is the cord to our t\u012bpuna. You cut the cord, you cut us off. Reo holds our m\u0101tauranga (knowledge), our humour, our karakia (prayer), our rage, our love. It\u2019s not just words. It\u2019s how we think, how we mourn, how we fight. You lose the reo, you lose the map home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fifty years of Te Wiki o Te Reo M\u0101ori have been \u201chuge and hilarious\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou used to get side-eye just for saying \u2018kia ora\u2019 at the dairy. Now, half the country\u2019s singing waiata at work. That\u2019s a win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Te Wiki o Te Reo M\u0101ori has \u201copened the floodgates\u201d.<\/p>\n
But one week a year \u201cdoesn\u2019t cut it\u201d, said Munn.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s daily, it\u2019s lifelong, it\u2019s revolutionary. Te Wiki lit the fire, but we\u2019ve got to keep feeding it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Te Wiki o Te Reo M\u0101ori started M\u0101ori Language Day in 1972 and became M\u0101ori Language Week in 1975.<\/p>\n
The sole living designer of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, Linda Munn from P\u0101p\u0101moa. Photo \/ Kelly Makiha<\/p>\n
For Munn, the M\u0101ori language exists beyond words, influencing her work as an artist. <\/p>\n
\u201cReo let us name our world on our own terms – that\u2019s sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about the relationship between the M\u0101ori language and symbols, Munn said the Tino Rangatiratanga flag itself was a k\u014drero (talk or discussion).<\/p>\n
The whakapapa (genealogy) of M\u0101ori is stitched into the flag.<\/p>\n
The koru featured in the flag\u2019s design is te ira M\u0101ori – \u201clife essence spiralling out from the whenua\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery line, every shape, carries kupu (vocabulary) without needing to say a word. The black, red, white – they\u2019re not just colours, they\u2019re our creation stories: Te Kore, Te P\u014d, Te Ao M\u0101rama.\u201d<\/p>\n
Te Kore, Te P\u014d, and Te Ao M\u0101rama tell the story of M\u0101ori creation.<\/p>\n
Te Kore is the nothingness, the void, from which Te P\u014d (the darkness) originated and became Te Ao M\u0101rama, the light. <\/p>\n
Munn said the flag spoke M\u0101ori. Her language gave the design a heartbeat. <\/p>\n
\u201cSymbols without reo are just decorations. Symbols with reo are declarations.\u201d<\/p>\n