What living in the Cook Islands taught me about reo Māori

What living in the Cook Islands taught me about reo Māori

As Cook Islands language week draws to a close, Ātea editor Liam Rātana reminisces about his time spent living in Rarotonga and what it taught him about language. There I was, sitting on a tropical beach sinking beers, tropical white sand wedged between my toes. A row of wooden picnic tables was packed full of Rarotonga locals enjoying their Friday night. As the sun slowly set on the northwestern horizon behind us and with liquid courage flowing…