Te wiki o te reo Māori - Hear from our students
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Te Reo Māori – Tōku māpihi kahurangi
Nā Te Ringakaha Ward - year one student in the Huarahi Māori specialisation of the Bachelor of Education (Teaching)
Ko te reo Māori he reo i ahu mai i tuawhakarere, i māturuturu mai i Te Tihi o Manono. Ka whakatōhia e ngā tini atua o mua noa atu. Ka tī, ka tā, ka rea, ka pihipihi he pua. He pua tapu ka kore e ngaro ki te pō nā te kaha o āna aka ki te whenua, he tupua, he roa, he kura ki taku manawa.
A language of a people is that not of yesterday, but that which formed from that which only dreams can comprehend. From a place where all knowledge streams. Planted by those before us where broke and sprouted a seed. A seed that can never be lost for it has inherited roots of strength and roots to my heart.
Ko te reo Māori he arero ki te iwi. I hauhaketia e ngā tūpuna te hua o te pua tïmatanga hei takoha ki ngā tātai whakaheke. Hei aha? Hei taonga kōrerorero, hei taonga whakawhitiwhiti. Hei whakakotahi i ngā au o te tīoriori, o te hāmanu o ngā kokoraho.
It is the Māori language that gives a voice to its people. It is the harvest of our forefathers whom took from the fruit of the first seed. Given as a treasure to the descending generations. As a means of conversation and a means of discussion. A way by which the currents of harmony can be united by those who speak it.
Ka papaki ngā ngaru ki uta, ka haruru te ākau katoa kia rongohia ai e te ao katoa. Nō reira, whakaorangia, manaakita hoki te reo o ōku tūpuna hei whakawhanake i te pua i whakatōngia i mua noa atu rä. Atawhaitia tō tätou reo rangatira hei taonga e kore e memeha, e kore ränei e ngaro, pērā i te moa. Engari, kaua e waiho mā te takitahi e whakaoti, heoi mā te takimano kē.
So let the waves break upon the shore and cause the world to hear. Let it revitalise the works which have been started long ago. So that the Māori language will never be lost, or vanish like the moa. But may it be not for one to complete but by us all.
He tauira tau tuatahi o Te Huarahi Māori a Te Ringakaha.
Ngā tau o te rerenga kētanga, o te noho kūare kē rānei? | The Age of Diversity or Happy Ignorance?
Nā Jesse Williams - second year student in the Huarahi Māori specialisation of the Bachelor of Education (Teaching).
Ko te momo tangata e wawatatia nei e au hei kaiārahi mō Aotearoa, he tangata e mārama ana, e whakamana ana i ngā hua o te reo mahatanga me te tikanga mahatanga hoki. Ki a au, me pērā rawa ngā whakaaro o te hunga e mea ana, ’Nō Aotearoa ahau.’ Mā te hāpai, te poipoi me te rumaki i te reo ka taea e tātou tēnei āhua. Ko te wiki o te reo Māori he wā e whakamihi ai tātou ki tō tātou reo mā te kōrero, te pānui, te tuhituhi me te whakarongo ake ki te reo Māori i ngā wā katoa, i ngā wāhi katoa. He wā anō tēnei hei whakamahara i a tātou ki te wāhi e tu ai a Aotearoa i te nuku o te ao, ehara nahe tātou i te iwi, ’waea nama waru,’ i te iwi, ’ma me te kohekohe’ engari, he iwi taikaha tātou a Aotearoa ki te ū ki te whakaaro, ’e rite ana tātou a tangata’ ahakoa, e rerekē ana anō tātou ā reo, ā whakapono ki te Atua, ā tangata, ā pūkenga, ā ahurea hoki. Ko te tikanga, me kaha anō tātou ki te mau ki te kotahitanga o te whakaaro me te hāpai i te rerenga kētanga. Mā te tautoko me te ako haere i te reo Māori kei te tūtira tātou i runga i tō tātou Aotearoatanga. Ki te kore tātou e pēnei, kua meinga tātou he tangata reo-tōtahi kē, i te mea, kāhore tātou e manaaki ana i ngā reo rerekē o te tangata. Ka meatia e te kaumātua, arā, te rangatira a Tā Hēmi Henare, ”Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori motuhake.” Ki te kore he reo tō tētahi iwi, kua kore rawa taua iwi. Ko te reo he mea nui rawa ki ia hapori ahurea, ahakoa ko wai. Ka whakaahuatia tētahi reo i ngā mea ora katoa a taua iwi, ā, e tohu ana hoki i te hononga o te tangata ki taua reo ā roto, ā waho hoki. Nā reira, mā te Māori ake te reo Māori? Kāhore! Mā tātou katoa. Me pēhea tātou e taea ai, te noho hapori, taone, tiriti rānei, e mau ingoa Māori ana, ki te kore tātou e paku mārama, mōhio rānei ki te whakapākehātanga o ēnei ingoa? E kore e taea. Me pēhea hoki tātou e taea ai te whakakōkiri i ngā tini kaupapa e whai pānga ana ki ngā take tōrangapū o te wā me ngā take hïtoria o tēnei whenua, mēnā e kuare tonu ana tātou ki te reo taketake me ngā tikanga o taua iwi taketake rā. E kore e taea. Kia kaua rawa tātou e tuku i te reo kia memeha, kei ngaro. Engari kia kaha ke tātou ki te manaaki, te tiaki, te whakanui haere i tō tātou reo kei pērā i te huia, kei ngaro ki te pō.
He tauira tau tuarua o te Huarahi Māori a Jesse Williams.
The New Zealander I aspire to be is one who has an understanding and appreciation of the benefits of pluri-lingualism and multiculturalism. As citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand we should all feel this way. Showing a commitment to the nurturing of the Māori language is an important way of fostering pluri-lingualism and multiculturalism within our communities. Māori language week is a time to celebrate our unique traditions, customs and values through the medium of Te Reo. It is a time to remind ourselves of the special place we hold in the world, not only as a ‘clean green’, ‘number eight wire’, ‘punch above our weight’ nation of proud but humble Kiwis. But also as a people who recognise and accept that ‘we are all alike’ in terms of common humanity, but different in terms of gender, social class, religion, culture and expertise. Society needs to educate for unity and the celebration of diversity – although in reality this can be problematic. By showing a commitment to learning and promoting the Māori language, we are engaging in the ultimate act of patriotism. By not doing so we are simply playing ‘happy ignorance’ to its true worth and we are therefore engaging in ethnocentric mono-lingualism by failing to recognise various linguistic backgrounds.
The late Sir James Henare, a patron of this very institution (The University of Auckland), once stated, ‘Language is the essence of what defines the special character of any people’. Without a language a people cannot exist. Language is central to the cultural identity of both the individual and the community to which he or she belongs. Not only does a language express the realities of a particular group, but it also marks one’s membership of that group both from within and without. This is true. However, does the Māori language only belong to the Māori people? No, I say – it belongs to all New Zealanders. How could we spend our whole lives living in a New Zealand town, suburb or street that has a Māori name, yet we never once bothered to find out what on earth these Māori place names meant? How can we profess to know the All Blacks haka if we don’t know what the words mean? How can we also become enlightened on issues of historical and political significance in this country if we don’t have an understanding of the Māori language, its history and its indigenous people. We cannot.
More and more we are seeing the emergence of the Māori language from the private domain in to the public domain in areas such as the legal field as well as market and political systems which further validates the relevance and utility of the Māori language in this modern world. As a nation we need to embrace why a linguistically diversified environment is preferable. Some reasons for this are to acknowledge and value linguistic backgrounds and to promote inter-ethnic friendship. Diversification can also help to close gaps between childrens’ cultural identities and their school culture, it can help reduce linguistic barriers and it can affirm rather than stigmatise language learners.
If a language is lost, the cultural identity of the group is considerably weakened, which in turn alters the very nature of the society of which that group is a part. In light of this, it is important to retain and promote the Māori language, in order, amongst other things, to develop a diverse and harmonious society.
Ko Te Reo Māori mā wai?
Nā Lorena Talagi Tuhinga - second year student in the Huarahi Māori specialisation of the Bachelor of Education (Teaching).
Ko te Reo Māori, te reo kahurangi o tō tātou whenua, o Aotearoa, te reo e whakapuakina ai te ahurea Māori ahurei. Ko taku pātai kē, ka taea e ngā tangata katoa te ako i te reo Māori, ahakoa ko wai, nō hea rānei te tangata? I runga i ōku wheako, kotahi tonu te whakautu, arā - Āe! Ehara te reo Māori mō te Māori anake, engari he taonga tuku iho mā ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, te ao hoki, ahakoa ko wai, nō hea rānei. He uri whakaheke ahau nō Niue e ako ana i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori. E whai ana ahau i tētahi huarahi e mahi ai au hei kaiako mō nga kura reo Māori. I te wā, i tīmata ahau ki te ako i te reo Māori, i pōhēhē ahau ko te tino mahi māku he ako noa iho i ngā āheinga whakawhitiwhiti kōrero māmā, pēnā i ngā hiahia māmā. Hei tauira, te ako i ngā momo pātai mō tētahi mea, kei hea rānei tētahi mea, me ētahi atu momo rerenga kōrero pēnā. I a au e ako haere ana i te reo, i kitea ehara te reo Māori i te reo mō ngā mahi māmā noa iho. Nō tōku torotoro hōhonu i te reo i kitea te ahurea motuhake e haere kōtui ana me te reo. Nā tēnei, he nui noa atu tōku maioha ki te āhua tikanga mahatanga o Aotearoa.
E whakatenatena ana ahau i ngā tāngata katoa e hiahia ana ki te ako i te reo Māori, kia tīmata rātou i tēnei wiki, te wiki o te reo Māori, ā, kia haere tonu te ako mō ngā rā e heke mai nei. Mā te pēnei, ka tïmata tō kite i te ātaahuatanga o te ahurea Māori. Mā tō tātou manako ki te ako, ki te kōrero, ki te poipoi hoki i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori ka mātua whakaritea kia tukuna iho ēnei taonga ki ngā tamariki mokopuna o āpōpō kia kore ai ēnei e ngaro, kia mōhiotia ai hoki te ahureitanga o te ahurea Māori, me te pānga o tēnei ki ngā ahurea rerekē o Aotearoa.
Mā tēnei hoki, ka taea e ngā tāngata te noho tahi me te mahi tahi hei tangata mōhiohio o te whenua o Aotearoa – he whenua i ēnei rā e nohoia ana e te tini me te mano.
Nō reira, ki a koutou, ngā tāngata e whai ana i te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori, ko taku tūmanako kia rite te pai o ō koutou wheako ki ōku, ā, kia kitea e koe te ātaahua o te reo Māori me te ahurea Māori. Koia nei ngā taonga e motuhake ai tātou i roto i te ao.
Nō reira, ahakoa ko wai koe, nō hea rānei koe, kei konei te reo Māori e tatari ana ki a koe – kāhore te reo i te ngaro, kāhore rānei te reo i te hunaia, heoi, kei konei kē e tatari ana ki a koe. Kaua e takaroa, me tīmata tō ako i te reo i nāia tonu nei.
Kua takoto te mānuka, kawea ake.
Te reo Māori, the precious language of our land, Aotearoa-New Zealand, is the language through which the unique Māori culture is expressed. Can anyone learn this precious language te reo Māori, no matter who they are and where they are from? From my experience, Yes! The Māori language is not only for Māori, but for everyone of New Zealand, the world also, no matter who they are and where they are from. I am Niuean, learning te reo Māori and Māori culture. I am also pursuing a career as a Māori medium teacher. When I first began learning te reo Māori, I only thought of it in terms of learning the basic functions of communicating such as communicating simple needs and wants. For example, learning how to ask for something or where something is, and other similar essential communication needs. As I continued learning, I found that te reo Māori is much more than just a way of communicating. I explored the language more deeply and have found that with the language comes a unique culture, as the two are closely intertwined and Māori culture is expressed through language. This has given me a greater appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
I encourage everyone who wishes to learn te reo Māori to start learning it during Māori language week and to carry on in to the future. In doing this you will begin to appreciate the beauty of Māori culture. Our desire to learn, speak and nurture te reo Māori and Māori culture will ensure these treasures will be passed on to our future generations so that it is not lost and so they too can gain appreciation of the uniqueness of Māori culture and the many peoples of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
Through this people will be able to live and participate as informed citizens of a diverse Aotearoa-New Zealand.
I hope that for those of you who are learning te Reo Māori and about Māori culture, that your experience is as enriching as mine, and that you gain an insight of the beauty of the language and culture. These are the treasures that make us unique from the rest of the world. Whoever you are, or wherever you are from, the language is here - it is not lost, it is not hidden, it is here waiting for you. Take up the challenge and begin learning now.
Kua takoto te mānuka, kawea ake.
Visit the website of Te Puna Wānanga, the School of Māori Education at the Faculty of Education
