Yale University. Photo: GETTY via AFP
Yale University is offering a course in te reo Māori - a first for any Ivy League university.
Te reo Māori is a second language for Amelia Butler, who leans on her whakapapa to help others around the world to connect to theirs.
Butler said its a big thing in terms of language revitalisation and hopes other cultures follow suit.
"It's a huge step for our reo to have it available at one of the top universities in the world. It's also a win for all Indigenous languages to see an Indigenous language being taught at a traditionally white, patriarchal university," she said.
"It's definitely a dream come true for our reo and one of many dreams that I have accomplished in my work teaching and sharing our culture abroad."
Amelia Butler. Photo: Supplied
While living in the USA, the Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Awa descendant 'fell into' teaching the Māori culture, language, and kapa haka to Māori and non-Māori living outside of Aotearoa.
Around seven years ago, Butler set up the pakihi (organisation) Learn Māori Abroad with just five people in her online class, now her course has tapped into many corners of the world and has six other kaiako to reach the demand of hundreds.
"I saw a significant need with our whānau living abroad and that many of us have a strong desire to engage with our culture. At the time I started, there was limited to no access to learning te reo Māori here in the US or outside of Aotearoa."
"[My course] gives learners living abroad access to learning our language outside of Aotearoa and allows whānau abroad to reconnect and reclaim our language and culture regardless of where they might live. It's provided a home for not only myself, but our community of learners living abroad."
During the covid period, the University of Hawai'i needed a te reo Māori teacher for an already established Māori (Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures) course. Butler stepped up to the plate and taught through Zoom while she was in Aotearoa.
The traction of her digital and kanohi ki te kanohi (in-person) classes led her to gaining a student at Yale through the Directed Independant Language Study (DILS) programme. DILS provides an opportunity for enrolled Yale undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students to study a language that isn't offered at the university.
The programme involves two weekly sessions spanning over 12 weeks, although it doesn't provide course credit, the university regularly checks in on the student's progress.
"They will learn the foundations of the language after one semester. We cover various elements of the language such as pronunciation, sentence structures, grammar, vocabulary, speaking in te reo Māori, as well as cultural elements within Te Ao Māori."
Yale is not the final stop for her and she hopes to teach at other Ivy League colleges with Harvard being the next college on her list.
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