Validating the most well known Te Arawa whakatauki (proverb) is what prompted Anaha Hiini to start his own business Kotihi Reo Consultants Limited. Offering expertise in Maori Language and Cultural Awareness Services is his core business with the long term goal of seeking to validate the term "Te Arawa Mangai Nui".
"This was a term that referred to the highly esteemed and proficient speakers of the Te Arawa people. My short-term goal is to create an opportunity for our people to learn and or enhance their knowledge of the Maori Language, which incorporates accurate grammatical structure, suitable pronunciation, and most importantly 'Whakaaro Maori' which is speaking from a Maori perspective and frame of mind without being literal, which is very difficult for a lot having been raise in a Pakeha world," says Anaha.
Anaha has been teaching Maori Language for well over a decade. He began at Te Wananga o Aotearoa over 13 years ago then took up a lecturing position at Waiariki Institute of Technology where he spent the last five years. The recent retirement of esteemed kaumatua Ken Kennedy from Waiariki meant that Anaha was approached and stepped up to the role of advising the institute on matters relating to cultural advice and support.
But Anaha says it's the reo that is his focus, particularly the need to increase the use and
prominence of the language so that it is not lost. "Firstly, my major concern is that according to the latest census results only 21% of the population are able to hold a conversation in Maori. This is a decline in comparison to past years. Due to this fact, I have a strong concern that the true essence and true beauty of the language will be lost forever. I started this business (Kotihi) simply because I saw the need and the want for companies and individuals to learn the Maori Language."
He also has his own view on the government's aim to revitalise the language. "I believe that the governments new Maori Language Strategy may work on the condition that each iwi provide educators who are proficient in teaching the language and who posess the relevant knowledge to do so."
