Ko wai koe, Nō hea koe?
Who are you, where are you from? What is your answer in the fullest context?
Nō Waikato-Maniapoto ahau. I whānau au i Ōtorohanga, he whai i ngā kupu whakaiti a taku whaea mōna, kāore kau au i whānau i te takapau wharanui, i whānau kē au i roto i ngā rarauwhe. Tekau tūturu aku tuākana, tuāhine, ka whā rā anō ngā atawahi a ōku mātua. Nō te tau 1977 ka mārena ai māua ko taku hoa rangatira, ka whā ā māua tamariki, he kōtiro katoa, ka toru ngā mokopuna ki tēnei wā. Ka tereina ahau hei kura māhita, kua whai wāhi ahau ki te ako ki ngā tūmomo kura, – kohanga reo, kura kaupapa Māoru, Wharekura, kura auraki – tuatahi, tuarua – kuratini, wānanga, ki tēnei wā he ahorangi ahau o roto o Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao o Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. Whai wāhi ana ahau ki ngā mana whakahaere o Waikato, o Ngāti Maniapoto hoki, he taratihi ahau o aku marae e rua, me ētehi o ngā taratihi whenua o te whānau.
He aha te mana o te reo Māori ki a koe?
Kei te nui te whakaae ki tā Himi Hēnare kōrero, ‘Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori.’ Kei te pokapū o te tuakiri o te tangata ko tōna reo, hei whakaatu i taua tuakiri, hei whakamārama hoki i tāna tirohanga i tōna ao.
He aha koe i tautoko ai te petihana reo Māori nō te tau 1972?
Nō te tau 1971 ka hono atu ai au ki Te Rōpū o Te Reo Māori ki Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria, ki Pōneke. Ki taua wā, he whakapae nā mātou he reo mōrearea te reo Māori, kua kore e roa, kua mate ia. Nō reira ko tā mātou akiaki i a mātou me whakapau tō mātou kaha ki te whakarauora i tō tātou reo, hei taonga mō tātou te iwi Māori otirā mō Aotearoa nui tonu. Ki taua wā, he nui te whakaaro ki te whakahaumanu i te kōkako. Ko tā mātou he whakautu hoki i te wero a te kaumātua o Ngāti Toa ki a mātou, “Tērā Te Atua e pātai mai ki a au ‘Kua ahangia e ahau te taonga o te reo Māori i hoatungia e hau ki a koe? Ko tāku kei te ora ki roto i a koutou e tama mā, e hine mā!” He wero tērā ki a au! He tukunga e te kaumātua rā te kawenga o te ora o te reo Māori ki a mātou, Te Rōpū o Te Reo Māori.
What was the context that gave rise to the petition?
Kei taua wā ki Amerika ko ngā tautohetohe a ngā Mangumangu o reira, he kaha ki te whai i a Martin Luther King, inā ko ngā tupua pērā o te Ao Māori ko Te Whiti rāua ko Tohu. I Inia, ko Mahatma Ghandi. Ko tā rātou he utua o te kino ki te pai. Ko tō rātou toa, he toa takitini. Ki Ahitereiria Ko Angela Davis mā ngā Mangumangu o reira me taua tohe anō mō te Ao Taketake, he porotehe i ngā kino o te Ao Kainoho. Kei taua wā anō, ko Hana Te Hēmara ko Syd Jackson, ko Tame Iti, ko John rāua ko Oriwa Ohia ko Ngā Tamatoa i Ākarana. He whai hoki ētehi o mātou i te whakatūnga o tētehi wāhanga o Ngā Tamatoa ki Pōneke. I taua wā rā anō pāoroorongia ana te ao whānaui ki ngā waiata, ngā pūorooro o Motown, e whakanui ana i te Ao Mangumangu, te Ao o ngā iwi i te tāmia, i te kaupēhia e te Ao o te taipūwhenua.
Ki a au, ko te reo Māori tētehi huarahi ehi whakakotahi i a Ngāi Māori – he taonga nō Te Ao Māori huri noa, ā, he ngāwari hoki te tuku i taua taonga nei ki te Āo Pākehā! Kāore he aha ki a au o te kaha o te kaikiri!! He whakaaro harakore a te ihu hūpete!!
Per the petition: “We the undersigned, do humbly pray that courses in Māori language and aspects of Māori culture be offered in all those schools with large Māori rolls and that these same courses be offered as a gift to the Pākehā from the Māori in all other New Zealand schools as a positive effort to promote a more meaningful concept of integration.”
What did those words mean for you then? What do they mean to you now?
Ko taua whakapono. Nā ngā kaupapahere o te kura i wepua ai ngā mātua Māori mo te kōrero i te reo Māori te take. Mā te kura rā anō ngā tamariki Māori e ako anō ai i tō rātou reo. Tērā ia ko taku whakatupuranga, taku reanga, i ākina ki te whai i te Ao Pākehā, me tōna nei mātauranga; i reira anahe nei te oranga o te tangata, me te tohutohu kāore he take o tō reo Māori, whakarērēna tō Ao Māori.
Me taua whakaaro e mea nei au he harakore – kāore he aha ki a au o te kaikiri. E utua ana te kino ki te pai!!
Kei te pērā tonu au! Kua koroheketia, e tika ana. Engari kei te mau tonu ki taua whakapono, ko te reo he taonga mō Aotearoa. Whakanuia!! Hākaritia!! .
Looking back on the last 50 years, has the effort to fight for our reo been worth it? Why, or why not?
Āe mārika
50 years have passed since the 1972 petition, have we as Māori done enough? Why, or why not?
Kei te hemo haere tonu tō tātou reo. E kitea ana ētehi tohu o tōna ora, ēngari he tokoiti o tātou Māori mai, Pākehā mai, Hainamana mai, mō te whai i a ia hei reo aunoa o Aotearoa.
Hei āwhea mōhio ai kua ekea te reo Māori ki te taumata, e ea ai ngā mahi whakarauora/Whakaora reo? He aha rānei te tohu hei whainga mā tātou?
When will we know the Māori language has arisen to a standard that satisfies the revitalisation efforts of the language? Or, what is the indicator we should be striving for?
Ki te rongongia te reo Māori e pāorooro ana ki ngā pito katoa o te motu, hei reo aunoa o te tini o te mano, tamariki mai, kaumātua mai, ka ea ai te wero a te kaumātua rā a Te Ouenuku Rēne …
He aha pea ētehi kupu akiaki mō rātou mā e aru nei i te tauira o te Kāhui Reo Māori o Wikitoria, o Ngā Tamatoa, o Rangimarie Glavish, o Matua Tom Roa rānei, kia huri te ao hei painga mō te iwi?
Arohaina, manaakitia, tautokotia, akona te reo Māori, he kūwaha ki te Ao Māori, he taonga tuku iho i a Ihowa o ngā mano, ki ngā mātua tūpuna, ki a Aotearoa nui tonu.
