Where te reo Maori is a way of life

Te Reo Maori gains a high profile for one week every year with Te Wiki o te reo Maori, but the language, and the culture that goes with it, is a way of life for some.

"At Te Rangi Aniwaniwa [outside Kaitaia] we realise how fortunate we are to be immersed in te reo Maori every day, where our tamariki can enjoy success using the medium to attain excellence in their education," tumuaki Joanne Murray said.

"Na te reo te kakahu o whakaro, te huarahi ki te ao turoa o te hinengaro. Ko te reo, te mauri o te mana Maori. Language clothes one's thoughts, one's ideas, and provides the pathway to enlightenment of the mind. The Maori language is the ethos that embodies all that it is to be Maori," she added, quoting Sir James Henare.

Skill and confidence in the language were manifested in many ways, including representing the wharekura in the annual Manu Korero competition. This year's regional competition, hosted by Bream Bay College late last term, saw Daphne Popata, Raukura Mane-Chapman, Te Rina Popata, Hone Ripikoi and D'Angelo Martin represent the school at secondary level, head girl Te Rina Popata winning the Sir James Henare trophy in the bilingual senior section with a powerful speech on the subject of establishing a constitution for Aotearoa' in both Maori and English.

"Sir James Henare's trophy acknowledges and symbolises the expectation of full competence in both Maori and English of students in our kura, which was exemplified with excellence by Te Rina," Ms Murray said.

"Sir James was a renowned chief of Ngapuhi/Ngati Hine, with strong connections to Muriwhenua. Although this is the first time his trophy has been outside the boundaries of Ngati Hine we acknowledge that it returns home to the origins of Muriwhenua as it stands with pride in our wananga.

"On the tail of that success we have two representatives from our kura teina (junior school), Raninikura Waitai-Henare and Samuel Hokianga, both Year 8 students, who will be standing to represent our kura at the regional Maori Women's Welfare League Manu Korero at Kenana tomorrow. We know they will both do our kura proud."

The kura also has a proud record in kapa haka, a record it has expectations of adding to next week. The wharekura (senior school) team will be one of three from Northland contesting the national secondary schools finals at Kensington Stadium in Whangarei from Sunday to Friday, taking the stage at 10.20am (session 7) on Thursday. They will perform again, in the Tai Tokerau regional competition, at 6.45pm on Saturday (July 28).

The junior school team, Nga Mahuri, will also compete in the junior national qualifying section at the same competition, at 12pm on Saturday.

"Both teams have worked exceptionally hard to learn their performance brackets, so we encourage all our whanau and our wider community to come and support their fundraising dress rehearsal concert at Puna Ora (the school gymnasium) as part of the final Po Matariki celebrations tonight," Ms Murray said.

"Dinner packs will be available at 5pm with performances starting at 6pm. All proceeds are going towards the cost of new Wharekura girls' kapa haka uniforms. Pre-orders for $6 dinners can be made at the kura office, and raffles and CDs will be on sale as well.

"Nau mai, haere mai, korero mai, tautoko mai, he kaupapa ataahua! Welcome all, let's talk, let's support such a beautiful event."