Cook Islands Māori language

Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language. It is the official language of the Cook Islands and is an indigenous language of the Realm of New Zealand. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori but is a distinct language. Cook Islands Māori is simply called Māori when there is no need to disambiguate it from New Zealand Māori, but it is also known as Māori Kūki 'Āirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or, controversially, Rarotongan. Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland".

Cook Islands Māori became an official language of the Cook Islands in 2003, but has no official status in New Zealand, despite the fact that New Zealand is signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Te Reo Maori Act states that Māori:

(see external links).

Pukapukan is considered by scholars and speakers alike to be a distinct language more closely related to Sāmoan and Tokelauan than Cook Islands Māori. It belongs to the Samoic subgroup of the Polynesian language family. The intention behind including Pukapukan in the definition of Te Reo Maori was to ensure its protection.

The dialects of the East Polynesian varieties of the Cook Islands (collectively referred to as Cook Islands Māori) are:

Cook Islands Māori is closely related to Tahitian and New Zealand Māori, and there is a degree of mutual intelligibility with both of these languages.