Opinion: Oh, the Māori language, you that sparks life on your week, a week where you are flocked to by the multitude. Many a proverb will be spoken in your name, and likewise you will swell with pride and admiration. Nevertheless, come week’s end, what will the country say about you? Will you still hold a favourable place in the hearts of the public, or will you return to the cursory position long held? We should ponder what may seem like a rhetorical question: what purpose does a single week serve towards revitalisation of the language? Let this question permeate with you all.
5000 languages exist in the world. Language scholars hold the opinion that by the end of this century, half of those languages will become extinct. If te reo Māori is lost here, it is lost to the world.
Recently, a swell of eager learners have emerged; it’s as if all things that wriggle now want a slice of the reo pie. At times coined a tokenistic uptake of te reo, this is reflected in a charge increasingly levelled at organisations as their adoption of the language increases.
The use of Māori names by government agencies has also faced intensive debate, with critics saying that the departments do not live up to the values and cultural understanding the names suggest.
However, lest we be misguided, the survival of the language is held in Wellington.
A person must choose to learn te reo Māori, to dive into it, to spend time chewing into the language, to feel confident enough to speak the language in uncomfortable settings. For the language to survive, the speaker of the language must commit to the basic idea that it ought to be spoken in all places at all times.
The current crop of fluent speakers are largely second-language learners. They have needed to show determination and lean into institutions like kōhanga reo and other learning environments to gain command of the language. In my opinion, the next phase of language revitalisation does not sit in public spaces alone; more importantly, it sits in the long-held desire for Māori-speaking homes. It is the ultimate indicator of a living language, a language spoken in the home, for the products of those homes will take the language into the unknown, into places our ancestors couldn’t even dream about, connecting the traditional vernacular to new ground, to imbue the language into exciting and innovative spaces.
We must support families to create te reo Māori-safe homes. This social investment in Māori-language homes enables further positive social outcomes where it is felt the most. For too long the language has remained dormant in our families, spoken only in formal settings.
Language initiatives have played a significant role in activating minds towards speaking the language, they have also played a role in normalising the use of language within wider Aotearoa. Included are the 430 kōhanga reo, more than 100 kura Māori, Māori radio and television, to name a few encouraging the use of the language. But if we, the Māori, do not speak it in our homes, its true potential will never be realised.
Only in Aotearoa is the Māori language spoken. This is the language of this land, this is its home.
Translation:
E te reo Māori, ā koe e whita tonu nei i tēnei wiki ōu, he wiki ka kaha muia koe e te motu, ka pepehatia koe e te nuinga, ka maranga rā tō kauwae i te whakamihatia ōu. Heoi, mutu ana tō wiki ka ahatia koe e Aotearoa? Ka pūmau ai tō kauwae ki runga, ka hoki rānei ki te ao o ngākaurua, ō whakapono iti. Tēnā kia rere te ui makihoi, e ora ai te reo i te wiki kōtahi? Mā te aha rānei te reo e ora ai? Kia waiho noa tēnei ui ki kōnei tārewa mai ai.
E rima mano ngā reo i tēnei ao, ā, e mea ana ngā kairangahau hei te otinga o te rau tau nei ka kore hāhā te haurua o aua reo. Ki te mate i kōnei, ka mate i te ao. Nō nā tata noa nei e kitea ana te hiakai ki te ako i te reo, anō nei ko ngā mea katoa e oreore ana, e minaka ana kia reo rua rātou.
I ētahi wā ka tāpaetia tēnei hunga ki te karangatanga karetao hao reo, waihoki ka kitea tēnei wairua i roto i te tapanga o ngā uepū Kāwanatanga, āe rānei e whakatinana ana aua manatū i ngā mātāpono, i te tino ngako o te kupu.
Heoi, kei pōhēhē noa kei te Kāwanatanga te ora o te reo. Mā te tangata kē te reo e ako, e ruku, e āta ngaungaua kia rangi mārōtia kia rongo te marea. E ora nei te reo me iri māro o tātou manawa ki te whakaaro, kōrerotia te reo i ngā wā katoa, ki ngā wāhi katoa. Ka mutu ko te reo pākeha kē te reo tuatahi o te nuinga o ngā kaikōrero ā mohoa nei, ko rātou i kuhu i a rātou, kāore nei rātou i ako i ō rātou kāenga, engari kē kua riro i ngā kaupapa pēnei i te Kōhanga Reo, i ngā Kura, i ngā kōhi reo taua mahi.
Koia nei te pakanga kei te aroaro, kia hoki anō te reo ki ō tātou kāenga matawara ai. Koia te tohu matua o te reo ora, ko te whāngaitia o te reo ki a tātou tamariki e te whānau. Mā aua tamariki hoki ngā kaikawe i te reo ki whenua hou, ki tua o te huatau i taea ai e tātou ā mohoa nei. Kia kawea ai te wairua o te kupu ō nehe ki ngā horopaki o te āpōpō, ā, ki kōnā kāenga rua ai te ora o te reo.
Nā reira me aro pū tātou ki ngā whānau e minaka ana kia āhurutia te reo i ō rātou whare. Ko ngā whānau e rapu ana i te ara reo Māori kia puāwai ake ai te pitomata mutunga kore i roto i te whai i te reo. Inā hoki ko ētahi whānau ka hia reanga nei e mahue ana te reo i a rātou, e mamao ana te reo i te whare tūtūru mōna, ko roto tonu i te whānau. E tautoko ana i ngā hīnonga whakatairanga i te reo, he whakaratarata i a Aotearoa whānui ki te reo, e kitea ana nā aua mahi e heke haere nei te`tūwatawata o ngāi whakatakē i te ahurea Māori.
E 430 ngā kōhanga reo, neke atu i te 100 ngā kura reo Māori, he pouaka whakaata, he reo irirangi Māori anō hoki, arā noa atu ngā kaupapa tautoko i te whānau, kia kaha tonu ēra. Engari ki te kore tātou e kōrero Māori i te kāenga, nōhea tēnei reo e ora ai.
Kōtahi noa te whenua e kōrerotia ana te reo Māori i tēnei ao, ko kōnei, ko Aotearoa, koinei te reo o tēnei whenua.
Rāniera (Daniel) Procter (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngāti Porou) wrote this story to mark Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week. He is co-chair of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board and a top surfer.
