NZ's biggest synchronisation of te reo Māori: How Hawke's Bay is participating

Tuhakia Keepa, centre, says EIT will mark the moment with ketekete korero over kai. Photo / File

Kōrero in the papa rēhia (park), Zoom storytelling in kura and ketekete kōrero over kai: Hawke's Bay is preparing for a national Māori Language Moment.

As part of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), Professor Rawinia Higgins of Taura Whiri I Te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) is calling on New Zealanders across the motu (country) to speak in te reo at 12pm on Tuesday.

Participating in the event can mean people either engaging in waiata, pānui, kōrero, ako, whakarongo or tākaro Māori.

Hawke's Bay Regional Councillor Hinewai Ormsby (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Tahu), said she thinks the Māori Language Moment is a great initiative to tag onto te wiki o te reo Māori and another chance to celebrate and speak the language.

"I had planned to go to Bledisloe School for the Māori Language Moment, since I volunteer there taking kapa haka classes. It enables non-Māori school members to get an insight into the reo and the culture too, which is important," she said.

"With young children there's an opportunity to normalise and celebrate our pre-colonial culture. It will bring through a new generation of New Zealanders and Kiwis, both Māori and Pākehā, that appreciate and value our culture," she said.

"But due to Covid-19 restrictions I won't be able to be in the classroom, so instead I'll be storytelling a pakiwaitara over zoom with the school," she said.

Councillor Hinewai Ormsby (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu) and her tamāhine Kaea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto), will be participating in the Māori language moment. Photo / Supplied

Fellow councillor Charles Lambert (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana) believes that these te reo Māori "moments" should happen all the time.

"We should be doing this sort of thing. It's going to be a bit tricky with Covid-19 rules, normally I would meet some friends for a coffee and a kōrero, but with Covid restrictions it might be better to meet in park and have a kōrero.

"You don't have to have a lot of reo to take part in these things, you just need to make a start," he said.

Tuhakia Keepa (Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Ngāti Ruanui), the executive director of Māori at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), will be celebrating the national Māori moment with a ketekete kōrero over kai.

"At EIT we're celebrating mahuru Māori, which is a month of promoting te reo Māori and we've been doing a different challenge for staff and students each week of the month," Keepa said.

"We do ketekete korero every alternate Tuesday throughout the year, mixing every other Tuesday up with waiata Māori," he said.

"It just so happen that the Māori language moment falls on when we have our weekly kōrero. People bring lunch, and we have a kai and kōrero, it's quite organic."

Rosie Dawson-Hewes (Pākehā), Toitoi Kaiwhakahaere Whakatairanga/ marketing manager said that she will be listening to her favourite waiata Māori and that Toitoi will been engaging in a variety of online kemu Māori during the Māori Language Moment.

"As an organisation, Toitoi is committed to honouring Te Tiriti, and increasing our knowledge and understanding of Te Ao Māori is part of our strategy, which means te reo is always present in what we do.

"So when it comes to celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, we simply try to step that up a notch – with games, quizzes and more reo lessons for our staff (usually phrases which we can all use every day, so we're more likely to put it into practice), and kupu ō te rā on our social channels" Dawson-Hewes said.

On a personal note, she will be blasting her favourite waiata Māori all week, which includes the likes of Alien Weaponry, Troy Kingi and Ria Hall.

"And when I'm in the tari, I'll be roping all my colleague into a kēmu kāri of Ika Ika (Go Fish) with my beautiful Maimoa Creative/Konei Māori-design playing cards" Dawson-Hewes said.