Labour Māori caucus - how the MPs learned to speak te reo

When political parties were limited to only one speaker at Kingitanga HQ recently to pay homage during coronation celebrations, there was no question who it would be for Labour in the powhiri.

It was not a matter of seniority; it was a matter of fluency and so Peeni Henare spoke on the paepae.

He has been described by colleagues as among the "crème de la crème" of te reo Māori speakers.

"I have been really blessed to have been raised and surrounded by some of the greatest orators certainly in the last few generations, truly blessed," Henare said.

But while Henare, the MP for Tamaki Makaurau, is the only native speaker among the 14-strong caucus, all the others have learned or are learning it.

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Henare was raised by his parents, Erima and Te Hemoata Henare, and four grandparents, Sir James Henare and Lady Rose, and his mother's parents, Tony and Betty Heta, who were all native speakers.

Peeni Henare's four grandparents were all native speakers. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Henare, who with his twin brother turns 43 this week, also went to kohanga reo pre-school as a toddler – "my grandmothers ran the kōhanga reo" – and believes he is the first kōhanga reo baby into Parliament.

Even when the family lived in the United States in the 1980s when his father became Consul-General in Los Angeles, the family spoke only Māori at home.

Erima, a Ngati Hine leader, returned to become the first chief executive of the Māori Language Commission and, at the time of his death in 2015, was its chairman.

Peeni Henare said that what he particularly loved about the last term of Parliament was having his uncle Shane Jones there who had helped to teach him the histories of the north.

"We all know how profound he was as a speaker in both languages. He was a big part of my growing up."

He said it was great that his other colleagues had learned the language and he singled out Nanaia Mahuta for praise, saying she speaks with a pronounced Waikato dialect.

"If you hear me, you can tell instantly where I come from if you are attuned to our language."

Mahuta, the MP for Waikato-Tainui, says she is a second language learner of parents who were native speakers.

Nanaia Mahuta's father advised to come home to the marae and speak to the 'old people.' Photo / Mark Mitchell

She learned Māori at primary school during the 1980s when the school had been transitioning towards bilingual learning. It had since gone on to become Te Wharekura o Rakaumangamanga.

"I went on to learn Māori at Auckland University and remember my father saying 'If you really want to learn Māori come home to the marae, listen to the old people and start talking with them.'"

Getting into Parliament in 1996 had accelerated her language journey.

"I knew I would need to find a way to engage with whanau through Māori media and in that respect I am still on my language journey.

"I love the beauty and expressions that we use in te reo Māori but most of all I love the wit and humour.

"It gives a real sense of who we are as a people when you hear Māori oratory - male and female - in all its forms and settings. Kia Kaha te reo Māori!"

Labour deputy leader Kevin Davis and MP for Te Tai Tokerau said he started learning Maori in the third form at Bay of Islands College in Kawakawa.

"Being a fair-skinned, blond-haired, green-eyed kid and often mistaken for being Pakeha, for me it was essential for being a Maori up north."

He said he had a fantastic teacher all the way through to seventh form, Charlie Berryman.
"Without him, I would not have gone anywhere."

He also took Maori as an option at teachers' college in Auckland with Hare Paniora, Mahia Wilson and Rua Pipi.

"I bought every Māori book in Whitcoulls and would read those with a dictionary beside me and try and work things out."

Kelvin Davis says it all started in the third form with a teacher named Charlie Berryman. PHoto / Peter de Graaf

When Davis returned north to teach, he said he spent a lot of time on the marae talking and asking questions.

But he said the best professional development for him was entering Parliament and having "been thrown in the deep end" by having to speak Māori on marae and at national hui.

"The only real way to speak the language is by speaking it."

If one was low level and 10 was the fluency of Sir Pou Temara or Shane Jones, then Davis would rate himself 5.5 or 6.

Willie Jackson rated himself a "5 out of 10" speaker on the continuum.

"I'm competent in the language but I wouldn't call myself fluent. I'm competent enough to do anything in the language."

His father had been a native speaker but did not speak it with him.

But Jackson, a list MP, was motivated by two things: he was starting out in Māori broadcasting and didn't want to have Māori-speaking callers without knowing what they were saying, and he wanted to raise his children speaking Māori.

He went to a series of week-long wananga run by Ngati Raukawa in Ōtaki, which had been begun by Whatarangi Winiata.

Willie Jackson did not speak English to his own children until they were about 11 years old. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"They were huge in the 80s and 90s."

"I knew I wouldn't be as good as Derek Fox but I'd be good enough."

Jackson said two of his three children were brought up speaking Māori and he did not speak English with them until about aged 11. His grandchildren speak Māori as well.

"The language has been a fascinating journey for me but I'm also very protective of people who don't speak the language because I don't like the way sometimes language is used against people or makes some of our people feel inferior.

"A lot of people feel really guilty or feel like they are failures because they are not speakers. I say you are not any less Maori because you don't speak Māori."

Adrian Rurawhe, the Speaker of Parliament and MP for Te Tai Hauauru, said he started learning Maori in 1992 at the Whanganui Regional Community College, which merged with UCOL.

He has also taken part in iwi-led wananga and marae-based full-immersion classes.
Kiri Allan, the MP for East Coast, attended a kōhanga reo preschool and attended mainstream school for primary and intermediate.

Kiri Allan was in the bilingual unit at Auckland Girls' Grammar. Photo / Tania Whyte

At high school, she was a student of Kahurangi, the bilingual unit at Auckland Girls' Grammar.

After finishing school, she studied te reo/tikanga for a year at Unitec in Auckland through a programme called Rangatahi Maia.

Meka Whaitiri, the MP for Ikaroa-Rawhiti, says she speaks Māori at a "moderate level" and understands te reo. She learned from her father, Wiremu Whaiti, a native speaker.

She said growing up on a marae also strengthened her knowledge of the spoken sounds of te reo.

Rino Tirakatene, MP for Te Tai Tonga, said he was a "rudimentary" te reo speaker.

"It's a lifelong journey.

"Learning te reo has been a combination of lessons from whānau elders, use of te reo in Ratana church services and secondary school study and still going to this day."

Tamati Coffey, list MP based in Rotorua, said he had been on a 20-year journey of learning.

He took Māori at Auckland University which he began in 1999 and in 2015, did a full immersion course for a year. Called He Kainga Mō Te Reo, it was started in the 1980s to support parents of kids going to kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori who didn't have te reo.

It was set up by Dr Cathy Dewes and her late husband Rawiri Rangitauira.
Dewes is the principal of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata in Rotorua.

"My boy is enrolled to go there next year - he'll be the first in our family to go through Māori medium education and we are proud of that," said Coffey.

Willow-Jean Prime discovered that her grandfather was a fluent speaker when she saw him speaking Māori on Waka Huia. Photo / Tania Whyte

Willow-Jean Prime, the MP for Northland, said her te reo journey began at Playcentre in Moerewa and continued at Moerewa primary school then Bay of Islands College in Kawakawa.

"My teacher was whaea Annette Wynyard – she is still there today. She made me do a Te Ataarangi night class [using with my Dad so I could catch up to those who were in the bilingual unit] all those kids on the Matawaia bus. I loved it; it was my favourite subject."

Prime went on to Waikato University where she did a total immersion course, Te Tohu Paetahi, which was taken by Te Kahautu Maxwell.

"One of the things I learned from him was to relax and not to take myself too seriously in this reo journey. I think it took away some of my fear of making mistakes and encouraged me to just give it a go and always keep learning."

Prime said it wasn't until she was at university that she realised her grandfather was a native speaker.

"I was watching Waka Huia, a story about matua Tamati Paraone and my papa Lloyd was being interviewed and he was speaking Māori.

"I rang him and said in Māori 'Papa I didn't know that you spoke Māori' and he said 'Huh? I didn't know you could speak Māori either!'

"From that day onwards my papa has always spoken to me in te reo."

Paul Eagle, MP for Rongotai and Wellington mayoral candidate, says he is about "50:50."
"I can understand it well but I am not fluent."

He said he learned Maori from secondary school, Wellington High School and St Pat's Town, and Auckland University.

"I am learning much more by having a 7-year-old in an immersion stream at Otari School."

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Jo Luxton, the MP for Rangitata, says she is limited to some very basic phrases in te reo Māori.
She learned while training to be an early childhood teacher at the New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education in Christchurch.

"When I was working as an early childhood teacher I was speaking far more than I do these days."

She also said Māori had been a compulsory subject at Campion College in Gisborne.
Shanan Halbert, MP for Northcote, says he has been learning te reo Māori since high school.

But he had always found it difficult to keep up and maintain because he grew up speaking English until his father learned te reo in later life retraining as a teacher.

Shanan Halbert did a total immersion course. Photo / Alex Burton

"The best learning experience that I have had was at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa where I studied total immersion Te Rōnakitanga.

"It really helped me accelerate through live-ins and build confidence to use what I know more frequently. I highly recommend it."

It had been difficult to maintain that level of te reo in Parliament but he tried to weave karakia, mihi, whakatauki and a decent amount te reo into his daily programme.

"I would personally like to see more opportunities to help strengthen the use of te reo for MPs with a medium level of proficiency."

Currently, it was available for beginners only.

"As a member of the Māori caucus, it would be invaluable to keep building what I know you use further in my day-to-day role."

Arena Williams, the MP for Manurewa, said she speaks te reo Māori and learned it from her father and at Te Wananga o Takiura in Auckland.

Her father is the educationist and broadcaster Haare Williams.