Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Ngati Awa launches Facebook application

Updated at 7:48 pm on 27 July 2012

Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi Ngati Awa has launched a special application on Facebook for its members to learn about their dialect, their tribal customs and oral history.

The Ngati Awa Reo Rau Facebook application is the latest product of Te Runanga o Ngati Awa's language retention and regeneration strategy Te Rautaki Reo o Ngati Awa - which also aims to capture its members who live outside the tribal rohe.

Te Runanga o Ngati Awa strategic policy manager Leonie Simpson says that the majority of iwi members are young and living outside of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the application demonstrates how technology can help engage this section of the iwi.

She says this is another step in that direction and its great to be able to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori with the launch of this exciting new language tool.

The application can be downloaded on the Ngati Awa web site or on Facebook.

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