For Māori Langage Week 2021, Twitch is celebrating its Māori creators and shining a spotlight on their live streams from Monday 13 September to Sunday 19 September. 

Eight new faces join the likes of beloved whakairo craftsman Broxh and hip hop artist DJ Spell for Twitch ANZ’s second Māori Language Week showcase, including variety streamer honk and social media personality Uncle Tics, who shares his lived experience with Tourette’s. 

Throughout the week, the creators will have increased visibility on Twitch ANZ’s front page and be promoted across social media as they showcase Māoritanga—Māori culture, traditions and the way of life—and promote revitalising te Reo Māori. 

Lewis Mitchell, APAC Content Director at Twitch, said,

“After receiving such positive feedback from our community in 2020, we’re thrilled to again be celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in a uniquely Twitch way. We have a raft of new creators joining some of Aotearoa’s biggest streamers in this year’s showcase, and more than 2.5 million people who are tuned into Twitch at any given time will be invited to join in the conversation around revitalising te Reo Māori and pay respect to all aspects of Māoritanga.” 

Self-taught artist and streamer ThunderxPunch was commissioned to create artwork that will be used to celebrate Māori Language Week on Twitch. His design is based on the weaving patterns of harakeke (flax plant), which is often a used metaphor for family bonds and human relationships in Māori sayings and songs. 

“To me, this describes our whānau [family] on Twitch and making connections with those who support us. Flax was also used to pass on culture, as through the patterns in woven articles, stories were told and beliefs affirmed. Participating in events like this will pave the way for our future generations to pass on our culture as we enter a digital world,” ThunderxPunch said. 

Broxh, the woodcarver from Rotorua who regularly speaks in te Reo on Twitch, said, “I stream because I love to carve and share my Māori culture with my community—my whānau. I hope to inspire the rangatahi to see whakairo and toi as viable career paths, and the added visibility from this year’s showcase will help to show our mahi.” 

honk, a proud member of the Ngāti Porou tribe, said, “As a linguist by trade, I jumped at the opportunity to bring two of my passions together and celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori on Twitch. While I don’t speak much Māori myself, I’m proud of my heritage and always introduce my community to my people and culture where I can.” 

A2WA, a 20-year-old gamer of Māori and Niuean descent who took part in last year’s showcase, said, “I’m excited to once again have the opportunity to share my cultural identity live on stream, and for Māori culture to be recognised by a global community like Twitch. I hope it shows the many people in Aotearoa that there are some awesome Māori creators on Twitch doing amazing things.” 

 Other featured creators who are ready to share their culture with the masses include: 

• Gystforkickz, a sneaker customiser from Hastings and proud member of the Ngati Kahungunu tribe 
• PrideLandz, a gaming and variety streamer who uses Twitch to share mātauranga Māori 
• Teebagginz, who strived to help Māori people reconnect with their culture and identity through gaming. As the founder of Ngāti Gaming, he’s aiming to one day have a Māori speaking team hit a world esports stage 
• MaiaDuck, who entertains her community with content spanning from arts and crafts to baking 
• Erukge, a school teacher by day and variety streamer by night who uses Twitch to share te Reo Māori with his community 
• Shoppinkarte, a variety streamer who’s excited to present her Māori heritage to a global audience 
• UncleJackTai, a popular Internet personality with a passion for streaming Dota 2 

 Twitch is live-streamed, interactive, personality and content-based, community-driven entertainment where anyone can play a role in creating the moment. Tune into the Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrations at twitch.tv.