My daughter Briget is attending Expo 2020 in Dubai and happened to see this at the impressive New Zealand exhibit, written in Māori. Also known as te reo, this is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian, it gained recognition as one of New Zealand’s official languages in 1987.
This amazing exhibit is all about water (it’s real water not film projection.) New Zealand is years ahead of most Western countries in their concept of the planet on which we live. They are proud to recognize nature as worthy of protection with its own right to exist.
In the U.S. our leaders see the planet as an opportunity for exploitation and peeing on the living room floor is OK as long as it makes money. Even animals don’t foul their own nests.
Thanks to Briget Hart for the photo and link.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
