doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2025.15.3.1252
Indigenous-Language Publishing in Aotearoa: A Case Study on Huia Publishers and Kotahi Rau Pukapuka
Lawa Iwan
- Department of Māori and Pacific Studies, University of Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand
- Manuscript received November 2, 2024
- accepted February 10, 2025
- published June 26, 2025
Abstract
The Māori, Indigenous people of Aotearoa , have endured significant cultural and linguistic loss due to prolonged colonization. In response, the Māori launched a movement in the 1970s to reclaim their rights and revitalize their language, leading to the Māori Language Act of 1987 and a growing demand for Māori-language books, primarily for education. Despite some growth, Māori literary production remains limited. Publishing Indigenous-language literature faces numerous challenges, particularly with funding. Publishers often prioritize commercially viable projects over Indigenous language works due to market size and distribution limitations. These economic hurdles restrict access to Māori-language literature, threatening the language’s survival. Despite these challenges, initiatives such as Huia Publishers and Kotahi Rau Pukapuka persist in producing Māori-language works. This paper examines their contributions, highlighting the Māori community’s efforts to overcome obstacles in preserving and transmitting their language, offering broader insights into Indigenous-language publishing challenges and strategies.
Keywords
- Māori language
- Indigenous Publishing
- language preservation
- Indigenous language literature
How to Cite
Lawa Iwan, "Indigenous-Language Publishing in Aotearoa: A Case Study on Huia Publishers and Kotahi Rau Pukapuka," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 118-123, 2025. https://doi.org/ 10.18178/ijssh.2025.15.3.1252
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).