Maori Made Fun

Professor Scotty Morrison (Ngati Whakaue) is the well-known presenter of current affairs programmes Te Karere and Marae. He holds a Master’s degree (Education), is working towards his PhD, and has been an Adjunct Professor and the Director of Māori Student and Community Engagement at Auckland’s Unitec Institute of Technology. In 2017, he was appointed to a new role at Massey University’s Te Putahi-a-Toi (School of Māori Art, Knowledge and Education), working alongside his wife Stacey in a strategic, advocacy and lecturing capacity. Scotty is the author of the bestselling language guides Māori Made Easy (winner of the 2016 Nga Kupu Ora Māori Book Award – Te Reo Māori), Māori Made Easy 2, The Raupo Phrasebook of Modern Māori, Māori at Work and Māori at Home, which was co-authored with Stacey. In 2019, Scotty was awarded the inaugural Te Tohu Korurenga Hau Culture Change award by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, The Māori Language Commission, for his leadership and innovation as a teacher of te reo Māori. Scotty lives in Auckland with Stacey and their three children, Hawaiki, Kurawaka and Maiana.

Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a radio and TV broadcaster whose projects have spanned 25 years. She is also a māmā to three tamariki who have been brought up with te reo Māori as their mother tongue. Stacey herself didn’t learn to speak Māori until she was an adult. It required a lot of research, determination, wonderful mentors and the support of a community to achieve her goal of becoming fluent by the time her children were born. Stacey and her husband Scotty co-wrote Māori at Home to help other families use te reo in everyday settings, and Stacey's first children's book, My First Words in Māori, became a number-one bestseller. She has since co-authored Kia Kaha: A storybook of Māori who changed the world with Jeremy Sherlock, which won NZ Booklover's Best Children's Book and a Storylines Notable Non-fiction Award. Both Stacey and Scotty work with many groups and families to build Māori-language friendships and community for whānau. Stacey has also been an advisor on pre-schooler and children’s TV shows, which, along with her experiences with her own children, has helped her identify the words children pick up early in their language learning. As a winner of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Champion Award in 2016, and the winner of Waipunarangi - Te Reo and Tikanga Award 2021, as well as a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo (the Institute of Excellence in Māori Language), Stacey loves encouraging the learning and use of our country’s beautiful native language.