Ashley McGregor graduated from Te Herenga Waka last year and is currently completing her masters. Photo: SUPPLIED
Rangatahi are openly using TikTok to share and celebrate te reo Māori, and hope all social media platforms can be flooded with the language.
Ashley McGregor (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri) is one of many swiftly gaining popularity on the social media platform through posting content speaking entirely in te reo.
"Ko tēnei te wā o te ao hangarau, technology plays a large part in our daily lives, so it is important we use these mediums to teach, use and promote our language."
McGregor started to post running vlogs speaking in te reo Māori, with accompanying captions in te reo Pākehā in early 2024 and is hopeful more content creators do the same.
"I also hope that we as content creators are encouraged to continue developing and strengthening our reo e tika ai, e kounga ai hoki te reo e tohaina atu ana i runga i ngā pāpāhotanga."
Ashley McGregor posts videos to TikTok speaking entirely in te reo Māori. Photo: SUPPLIED
Her videos generate plenty of aroha, with some videos gaining over 100,000 views.
"I myself am still learning, but I believe if we hold onto the hakaaro that we want our reo to eke anō ki wōna karamatamata, we need to take steps also to ensure that the content we are making is contributing in the best way towards the revitalisation of the language."
She said herself, like many learners of the language, are constantly looking for more ways to immerse aspects of their life in te reo.
"I reira pea te whānautanga mai o te hakaaro kia hangaia wētahi whirio e reo Māori ana."
McGregor had always enjoyed running, and a passion of hers was to create a running podcast similar to the Nike Run App, with a focus on content created in te reo Māori.
"Perhaps, this is where the idea to immerse that aspect of my life with te reo came from."
McGregor said social media plays a massive part in the promotion and revitalisation of te reo Māori.
"Hakoa ngā pēhitanga o te wā nei, mā te ao hangarau, mā ngā tini kaupapa hakarauora reo e puta noa ana i te motu, ka ora pai tō tātou reo Māori. Social media is one of many contributers to the revitalisation of our language."
She said if people could flood all social media platforms with te reo, "Ka ora katoa taku ngākau i tēnā."
"I think it is so awesome to see our people, Māori mā, Pākehā mā using and promoting the language whether that be through content or through engagement with other creator's content."
"E harikoa ana te ngākau, I love seeing and hearing our reo used."
Rongopai Tickell is one of many who was influenced by Ashley McGregor to create reo Māori content. Photo: SUPPLIED
He Kaitaunaki kia mānawatia te reo - Inspiring others to be bold advocates of the language
McGregor has inspired many to create similar content in te reo Māori, and one of them is Rongopai Tickell (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa Rangatira).
Tickell said creating such videos helps keep herself accountable to speak in her native tongue.
It was a way to contribute to the evolution of te reo Māori and be open to input, she said.
"Wherever you go, you want to be able to hear reo Māori, and you want it to become normal."
Tickell grew up in Ōtautahi, and said learning te reo Māori in high school planted a seed to continue pursuing the language.
After travelling Aotearoa and visiting different kura kaupapa Māori across the motu while working with Māori theatre company Taki Rua, she met many tamariki whose first language was te reo Māori.
To see rangatahi speaking in their mother tongue effortlessly was a blessing, and it pushed her to pursue te reo Māori even more, Tickell said.
From there, she immersed herself in the language for an entire year, enrolling at Te Wānanga o Raukawa.
While she had previously studied at night classes with Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Tickell said it was hard to get rid of feeling whakamā of making mistakes.
She said this feeling was also a challenge she had to overcome when she decided to create videos on TikTok and said the only way to learn the language was to first let go of feeling the need to always be perfect.
"I think I'm going to make mistakes in my videos because I'm learning and the biggest challenge for me is just to accept that that's okay and welcome correction."
Tickells goal is for her comment section to become a hub of information, similar to a wānanga, where people can share their whakaaro and suggestions on how to say specific sentences in a different way.
"It's important that that our reo evolves with us and that our reo is everywhere.
"If so, many young people are on TikiToki, then our reo needs to be on TikiToki."