This year marked the 50th anniversary of the first Māori Language Week.
The theme for the week (September 14-20) was "ake ake ake — a forever language".
Waitaki District Libraries Māori services leader Ms Potaka-Ross said about 40 people gathered outside the council buildings on Friday to sing waiata and karakia (song and prayer) to begin the day.
"It’s been really beautiful.
"A lot of the council staff were off to a meeting, so they stopped here first.
"It’s just such an amazing way to start the day, to uplift the wāirua [soul]."
Regular group waiata attendees Tilly Woolford and Karen Green, both of Ngāpuhi — the largest Māori iwi (tribe) located in the Northland (Te Tai Tokerau) region of the North Island — said they felt "lucky" to celebrate the week in Oamaru.
"Lisa is so awesome," Mrs Woolford said.
"We really enjoy it — you just want to keep coming back."
Ms Potaka-Ross said as part of the celebration of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, the singing group, community members and council staff met every morning last week to tīmata o te rā (begin the day) with karakia and waiata.
A "special extended community waiata" on Tuesday also included youth from Te Pōhā school at Te Hā o Maru.
Te Pōhā, an initiative of Te Runanga o Moeraki, is designed to bridge the gap for Māori and tauiwi (people who are not Māori, especially non-indigenous New Zealanders) living in the Moeraki takiwā (district) and promote traditional methods of practice as a means to manage whānau, hapū and community health.
Ms Potaka-Ross said it was an uplifting occasion.
"We sang through our whole repertoire of 24 waiata.
"We just sang and sang, it was like a waiata jukebox.
"It was 90 minutes of pure joy with about 40 people taking part — everyone loved the feeling of connecting with each other and to the kaupapa of Māori Language Week."
Hoodies donated by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) were part of our giveaway prizes, she said.
