Linguapax
Miquel Angel Essomba delivers the 2009 Linguapax Award to the Maori writer and educator Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira
The President of Linguapax travelled to the Pacific region to get firsthand information on the revitalization projects carried out in the area and deliver the Linguapax Prize, the only honour recognizing linguistic promotion so far.
The maori writer and educator Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira received the Linguapax Award 2009 earlier today from the President of the institution Miquel Angel Essomba at a ceremony held at the Parliament of New Zealand. The event chaired by the Minister of Maori Affairs, Hon Dr Pita Sharples, gathered many authorities and representatives from institutions devoted to the revitalization of the Maori culture and language.The ceremony coincided with the Maori Language Week (Te Wa o te Reo Maori) which is commemorated all over the country and, in Miquel Angel Essomba's words, "this Linguapax Award 2009 brings an occasion to recognize internationally the efforts made by the whole Maori community through the past 50 years to help revitalize their language in New Zealand. This award is granted to Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira and but it can also be considered asa collective award for the Maori community".
Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira deserves the Linguapax Award 2009 for her restless efforts to revitalize the Maori language over more than 30 years through pioneering children and adults teaching methods and extensive writing, and for her outsanding contribution to the establishment of Maori Shools.