Ngati Kahungunu descendants are being inspired by their own Maori language strategy to have a say on the Government's proposed plan for the language.
The country's third biggest iwi has spent nearly two years revisiting the status of tribal dialects, and asking tribal members their hopes and aspirations for Te Reo o Kahungunu.
Jeremy Tatere MacLeod, the Ngati Kahungunu director of Te Reo, Tikanga and Matauranga, says its strategy is a snapshot of what members want - and that's to keep the tribe's language alive.
He says fortunately its language plan was released at about the same time as the Government's one - which has stirred interest among its people about its own strategy and how it aligns to the state plan.
The Ngati Kahungunu Language Strategy found that native speakers are diminishing - prompting a need to conduct research with them, as well as a desire to make its dialects a main language of communication by 2027.
