Sisters Heeni (left) and Harata Brown say they were brought up to ponder deeply on issues relating to New Zealand and Maori. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Te reo has paved the way for careers in journalism for two sets of siblings with Rotorua roots who work on opposing Maori news shows.
Northland sisters Heeni and Harata Brown report on Maori Television's prime-time news show Te Kaea while Rotorua brothers Kereama and Manawa Wright report for TVNZ's Te Karere.
In the Wright brothers' Rotorua home, they did not learn English until they were about 8. In the Brown sisters' hometown of Te Kao, 370km north of Auckland, te reo is the community's first language.
Heeni, 27, was born in Rotorua before her family moved to the Far North. She started at Te Kaea as a journalist straight out of the Waiariki Institute of Technology in 2008 and was joined by her sister - who went through the South Seas Film and Television School - in 2012.
"First and foremost I'm an advocate of the Maori language ... and journalism is the waka that carries both the Maori language and Maori perspective and intertwines them together as one," said Heeni.
Kereama, 26, has been at Te Karere since early last year, when he switched from a three-year stint at Te Kaea. Manawa, 24, joined the team two and a half months ago.
The Wrights' parents are both heavily involved in the Maori immersion education system, where their father Rawiri Wright is a principal and mother Renee Wright a school commissioner. Rawiri was also a journalist in Taranaki.
Said Kereama: "Growing up, I always had a desire to tell Maori stories from a Maori point of view, and that probably came natural to us because we were brought up in the Maori immersion education system.
Manawa Wright and Kereama Wright.
"Listening to stories and eventually telling stories plays a large part in that type of education system."
Manawa said journalism piqued his interest from a young age.
"It's all about the passion for telling the stories of our Maori from a Maori perspective.
"It has been etched into our, I wouldn't say DNA, but we like to have really constructive conversations and debates relating to issues in our household, so we have always been taught to think deeply about issues pertaining to New Zealand and Maori and also be able to tell that story to the masses if we can."
Harata said there was friendly competition between the two sets of siblings, who often covered the same stories.
"I have actually been out on the field with both Kereama and Manawa doing the same story and you're always trying to get a better angle or more information on the same story, so when you see another Te Karere reporter out on the field, there is the thought to do better or to do the story more justice than the other reporter there on the day."
Na Te Reo i para te huarahi mahi papaho ma etahi tuakana taina e mahi ngatahi ana engari ma hongere reo Maori ke atu.
No Te Tai Tokerau a Heeni Brown raua ko tana taina a Harata, a, he kaipapaho raua ma Te Kaea, te hotaka purongo korero matua o Whakaata Maori. Waihoki ko Kereama Wright raua ko tana taina a Manawa, o Rotorua, he kaimahi ma Te Reo Tataki i runga i te hotaka o Te Karere.
I te kainga o te whanau Wright i Rotorua, kaore raua i ako i te Ingirihi kia waru tau ra ano raua. I te kainga tipu o te whanau Brown ki Te Kao, e 370km ki te raki o Tamaki, ko Te Reo Maori te reo tuatahi o taua hapori.
I timata a Heeni, e 27 ona tau, i tana turanga kaipurongo ma Te Kaea i tana putanga mai i te Whare Takiura o Te Waiariki i te tau 2008, a, ko tana taina a Harata -- i kuraina ki South Seas Film and Television School -- i timata ake i te tau 2012.
"Matua ko Te Reo Maori taku e whakaihuwaka ana... ko te mahi purongo he waka kawe i Te Reo Maori mai i te tirohanga Maori, kia piri kia mau," te ki a Heeni.
No te timatatanga o tera tau a Kereama, e 26 ona tau, e mahi ana ma Te Reo Tataki, a, i mua o tera, e toru tau ia e mahia ana ma Te Kaea, heoi ano no te rua marama ki muri i timata atu tana taina a Manawa, e 24 ona tau, ki te mahi.
He wahanga nui ta o raua matua ki roto i nga kaupapa matauranga rumaki reo, otira he tumuaki to raua matua a Rawiri Wright, a, he kaikomihana to raua whaea a Renee.
He kaipapaho hoki a Rawiri i mua, i roto o Taranaki.
"I a au e tipu ana, he koronga noku ki te whakaputa korero Maori mai i te tirohanga Maori, a, i penei ai i te mea koira to matou whakatipuranga i raro i nga kaupapa rumaki reo" te whakautu a Kereama. "He whainga nui o taua kaupapa ako, te whakarongo ki nga korero, mea ake ka whakaputa i etahi korero."
I a Manawa e pakeke haere mai ana, e tamariki tonu ana ia i te wa i ara ake tana hiahia ki te whai i te huarahi Papaho. Ko tana ki "he minaka noku ki te whakaputa korero a te Maori mai i te tirohanga Maori. Kua whakairohia ki roto i a maua, e kore au e ki kei roto i nga ira, engari kua waia maua ki te whakawhiti korero, ki te tautohetohe hoki i nga take i roto i to matou kainga, no reira i whakaakohia maua me ata whakaarotia nga take e hangai ana ki Aotearoa, ki te Maori hoki, a, me te whakatairanga i aua korero ki te marea mena ka taea."
E ki ana a Harata, he hoa tauwhainga ratau ki a ratau nga tuakana taina, otira e paoho ana ratau i nga kaupapa orite i etahi wa.
"Kua tae au ki waho ki te paepaoho, maua ko Kereama, a, me maua hoki ko Manawa e kawe ana i te take orite, a koira a matou mahi he tauwhainga, kei a wai te tirohanga hihira, i riro ranei i a wai te matu o te korero. No reira, rokohanga atu he kaipurongo o Te Karere, tera te whakaaro, e, me whaimana ano taku kawe i ta take, me wana ake i tana i kawe ai."