Rotorua prides itself on its reorua status but there is still has a long way to go before our reo resonates through her streets. Photo / FILE
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See below for English translation
Kāore au e matatau ana ki te reo Māori, he ahakoa kua ara ake e whia kē ngā momo rautaki hai awhinatanga māku.
Ko te mutunga iho kāore he takunga i kore ai i pai ake taku reo. Me taua rerenga kōrero nōku e itiiti ai kāore e take ana tō tātou reo.
He moumou, he reo kore whai hua i te ao nei. Āpitingia ki tēnei āhuatanga ko te reo Māori te reo matua i rangona i taku kāinga engari he reo kokohu kē. Ka ara ake tētehi whakaaro kokohu kua tahuri ōku mātua ki te kōrero Māori he rautaki ki a noho kūware tonu ai mātou ngā tamariki.
Engari i whakatauirangia mai ngā pou tikanga o te ao tawhito, ara ko te manaakitanga, ko te whānautanga, ā me ngā āhuatanga katoa o te wahine.
Nō te wā o ngā mokopuna i tākaia rātou ki te reo me ngā tikanga o tātou te Māori, i akingia rātou ki te kawe i te reo me te ako waiata mōteatea. Ko te nuinga o rātou kai te takiwā o te wha tekau o ngā tau ināianei, ā, he arero rua te nuinga o rātou.
Kua tahā atu ngā tau e rima tekau e hoki ai te titiro ki te wā i kawea atu nā e ngā ngākau toa tētehi petihana e toru tekau mano o ngā hainatanga te taumaha ki te waha tieke o Paremata, ko te whakatairanga i tō tātou reo te pūtake. Nō te kotahi tekau mā whā o Hepetema nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau e whitu tekau mā wha te tau ka takahia te whenua e ngā hūnuku tokorua nei.
Ko Te Reo Māori Society nō Te Whanganui-a-Tara me ngā Tamatoa nō Tamaki-makau-rau. I mua i tō rātou haerenga ki te whare miere kua pau kē i a rāua ngā tau e rua e whakataka ope mā rāua, e kimikimi hoa awhina, e kimikimi hoa tautoko hai whakamatatarangia i ngā here e tāmi nei i ngā arero o ngā korohī mako o te nehenehe nui o Hāwaiki Tahutahu.
I tautokongia rātou e ngā tini kaumātua me ngā tini kuia. Ka arahina rātou e tētehi wahine toa e rua tekau mā rua noa te rahi, ko Hana Te Hemara ara ko Hana Jackson me te wairua o te kaupapa e mea ana whakamanangia te reo, whakaakona ki ngā tamariki, whakanōhia ki te puku o ngā kura.
Nō te rā tuatahi o Akuwhata nō te tau e rua mano, e rua tekau mā rua ka whakanuia te reo hai reo tūturu o tēnei whenua o Aotearoa kua toru tekau mā rima o ngā tau noa e noho nei ia ki tēnei taumata.
Engari e ai ki te tumuwhakarae mō Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo ki a Ngahiwi Apanui kia mātara tonu tātou he ahakoa kai te piki ngā tatauranga o te hunga kōrero Māori kai te pari o Maruiwi tonu ia e tīoioi ana. Kāore anō te reo ki a puta i te korokoro o te parata.
E toru tekau paihēneti o te motu kai te kī mai he arero Māori tōna he ahakoa te hiahia o Ngahiwi ki a eke noa tēnei nama ki te kotahi miriona o ngā tangata.
Mōku ake, kia tika kē te whakahuahua o ngā kupu ko te nuinga o te taimā e nohopuku nei ahau. Wheoi anō rā. Ka nui hoki te whakahīhī o te wairua ki ā tātou tamariki Māori e reo Māori nei te arero.
He aroha ngākau ki te noho tahi me ngā kohungahunga o ngā puna reo otīā o ngā kohanga reo hoki.
Ahakoa ko te reo Māori tō rātou arero matua engari anō ko te āhuatanga o ēnei kura kai te rangona te ngākau aroha he whakapae nōku nā te āhuatanga o tō rātou wāhi noho tēnei muri aroha.
E hoki ake nei ngā māharatanga ki te wā nōku e mahi ana mā te Herald o Aotearoa ka pātaingia ahau e tetehi o ngā poumahi, he aha hoki rā tōku ingoa i mua tonu o te wā whakamana i te ao Māori ? ( Kua wehe noa atu ināianei taua poroheahea nā.)
Kai ngā rangitūhāhā kē ētehi o ngā ingoa o ā mātou pēpē nā ō rātou ake mātua i waihanga, ko ētehi he ingoa tupuna, ko te mea nui ki ahau ko te māiatanga o ngā mātua ki te whakatika i te hunga ki a tika te whakahuahua ake o ngā ingoa Māori. E pūare kau ana ōku kanohi me ōku taringa ki te wairua wawara o te reo me tō tātou ahurea whakahirahira.
Nā te mea kai te māuiui ahau i tēnei wā kua whai taima ki te whakarongo me te mātaki pouaka whakaata i te wiki nei. Kātahi ko te wā whakamiharo hoki!
I pūare ai taku ngākau ki te hōtaka Waiata Anthems (Ka wehi kē) me ngā pou whakaari katoa.
He ahakoa kai te papatahi ētehi o ngā tangi ki a māua ko taringa engari rā ko taku kuiatanga kē pea te raruraru. Me te pai hoki o ngā hōtaka tamariki kai Whakaata Māori, engari ko te mea whakamiharo rawa atu ko te whakamāoritanga o te kēmu Brainbusters, pau katoa taku kaha ki te mātakitaki.
Ka rawe. Kai te kaha hoki rā te hunga kawe i ngā rongo kōrero me te pai hoki. Wheoi anō rā, ka whakaweto au i taku pouaka whakaata, ka puta ki te tāone, e hakoke noa ana kātahi nā au ka mōhio he mārō tonu te huarahi ki mua i a tātou.
Kai te ara tātaramoa tātou e hoa mā. Kāore e take ana aku mihi Māori ki te hunga atu i a tāua te Māori.
He roa ki mua, he iti ki muri. Kātahi rā! Nā reira te whakaaro o te ngākau, Ka pēwhea hoki rā me ka whakapono katoa tātou ngā iwi o tēnei rohe ake ki tēnei mea te reo rua – kua takoto te manuka e hika mā. Hīkina.
— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo
I'm not fluent in te reo Rangatira despite having opportunities to remedy this situation.
When it comes down to it, I have no excuse. Yes, I was told countless times as a youngster that te reo wasn't of any use to me in finding a job.
And yes reo was used in our home if our parents had something to say they didn't want us to know about. We learned by example the tenets of tikanga: Manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and how young women conducted themselves.
Funny then that when the mokopuna came along they were nurtured in the reo me ona tikanga. Encouraged to speak the reo and learn waiata koroua.
Now aged nearly 40 they are truly bilingual.
It's 50 years since a petition containing more than 33,000 signatures was presented to Parliament calling for the active support and teaching of te reo.
That was on September 14, 1972, and two groups of students, the Te Reo Māori Society from Wellington and Ngā Tamatoa from Auckland, had spent the preceding two years rallying support for a language that had until recently been actively suppressed.
They were supported by kuia and kaumatua and spearheaded by 22-year-old Hana Te Hemara (also known as Hana Jackson), who called for the active recognition and teaching of te reo Māori in schools. August 1, 2022, marked the 35th anniversary of te reo Maori becoming an official language of Aotearoa.
Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Maori chief executive, Ngahiwi Apanui, while celebrating the explosion in the number of learners warns that te reo is not yet out of the woods.
About 30 per cent of people classify themselves as reo speakers but Ngahiwi is more cautious, saying the goal of one million reo speakers by 2040 is still a long way off.
As for me, I don't ask for much just that all people pronounce our words correctly. I am also fiercely proud of our tamariki who have reo as their first language. I love interacting with the kohungahunga of puna reo and kohanga reo. Not only is reo their medium of communicatioin but they are special, they are treated with aroha and respond accordingly.
I remember being asked when I started on the subeditors' bench at the New Zealand Herald what my name was before Maori became fashionable. (That sub didn't last much longer there.)
Some of our babies have way-out names, compiled by their parents. Others have long tupuna names.
What pleases me most is that the parents demand that everyone pronounce the names correctly.
I have opened my eyes and my ears to this modern world and what resonates is the beauty of our reo and our heritage.
Thanks to a bad case of hayfever and the flu I have had a lot of down time in the past week and flicking on the television set was the best way to pass the time.
I have discovered Waiata Anthems (big thumbs up) and wonderful performers. Some of the songs are not so sweet to my ear but that is probably just a generational thing.
The children's programmes on Whakaata Maori are a revelation but it was a Maori version of Brainbusters on The Feed that took the big money for me. Ka rawe.
Television presenters and reporters are making the effort and doing a good job.
Then I turn off the television, venture into the town of Rotorua and my Kia Ora, or Tena Koe, go unacknowledged except by people of similar colour. It would be wonderful if in this city Reorua the greeting would be reciprocated.
He lost an arm and a leg in a crash that killed three friends.