Rachael Mario | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | New Zealand |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Known for | Rotuman language advocacy |
| Board member of | Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group |
Rachael Mario is a Rotuman New Zealand community leader, social worker, and advocate for the Rotuman language. She is Chairperson of the Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group. [1] [2] [3] [4] She also helped setup the world's first Rotuman Community Centre in 2020, where language and culture is taught and promoted. [5]
Mario is known for her work in protecting and preserving her native indigenous Rotuman language. [6] In 2018, she founded the Rotuman Language Week, a week celebrating the endangered Rotuman language, which is now celebrated in New Zealand and Fiji in May. [7] [8] In 2019 she lodged a complaint with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission against the Ministry for Pacific Peoples alleging discrimination against Rotumans by the failure to recognise their language. [9] Other Rotuman groups accused her of misrepresenting the community. [7] She has also spoken out in support of the issue of Fijian Hindu claims to a Pasifika, rather than an Asian, identity. [10] She contested the 2022 New Zealand local elections, standing for a seat on the Puketāpapa Local Board, as part of the Roskill Community Voice consortium, Mount Roskill, Auckland. [11]