This article explores some of the influences shaping early childhood Mäori language education in Aotearoa New Zealand. By drawing on Garcia’s socio- historical stages of language orientation it parallels Mäori language socio- historical developments and the linguistic conditions within which Mäori language regeneration efforts reside. Also drawing on Waitangi Tribunal findings these are juxtaposed as developments in Mäori language education. In the New Zealand context, public policy has been slow to keep up with the pace of change, much less support or work with these flax-roots movements. Referred to as “leaden- footed”, the slow pace of Crown response and responsibility has stymied advancements. The difficulties associated with these movements are typically politically constructed problems, not linguistic. Controversy exists where there is misinformation about the nature of languages and what constitutes bilingual education. In the New Zealand context, education (spanning both the non- compulsory and compulsory sectors) has been dominated by monolingual English policies and practices. Debate still rages about whether Mäori, one of the two official written and spoken languages, should be compulsory in schools. It is argued here that it should.