Hei aha te nui, te iti rānei
(No matter how big or how small)
Indigenous languages are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. In recent months I have been fortunate enough to meet and listen to different indigenous peoples from around the world, which has made me aware of how lucky we are here in New Zealand. The arrival of foreigners to New Zealand initiated the decrease in the use of the Māori language. It was not until the 1970s that people took notice of the language and decided to take a stand. Despite the Treaty of Waitangi being a contentious document, it is the main reason we are able to fight for the recognition of the Māori language. Because we are a small country, with similar dialects under one federal government, we are able to unite to retain and maintain the use of the Māori language. Although there are many positive revival techniques, such as Māori language immersion schools, we have not yet reached a comfortable level of retention. We have events such as Māori Language week, but for many, once this week is finished, the Māori language is pushed back to the side and forgotten for another year. My desire is for the Māori language to be normalized within all areas of society. Although this is a difficult notion, we must still remember that we are much better off than some other countries. No matter how big, or how small the use of the language is, the most important thing is that we try to get the language out there.
E ai ki tētahi atikara nā te National Geographic Society “Disappearing Languages”, i ngaro tētahi reo taketake ia rua wiki. Ā te tau 2100, neke atu i te 7,000 o ngā reo o te ao ka ngaro. Kāore anō ētahi o ēnei kia hopukina e tētahi mihini hopu reo. Kua tata te ngaro mō ake tonu.
I ngā marama kua hipa, tōku waimarie hoki ki te tutaki, ki te whakarongo hoki ki ngā tāngata taketake nō ētahi atu whenua o te ao. Ko te mea tino whakaohorere ki ahau, ko te kaha ake o te reo Māori i ētahi atu reo taketake o te ao.
I mua i te taenga mai o ngā tauiwi ki Aotearoa, ko ngā reo ā-iwi ngā reo anake o ngā tāngata whenua o Aotearoa. He āhua pai ētahi āhuatanga o te reo Ingarihi mō ngā tangata whenua, arā, i taea te mahi hokohoko, te ako hangarau hou. Kāore i whakamōhiotia e rātou ngā tukunga iho o tēnei mahi. I ngā tau 1900 te reo Māori tīmata ai ki te whakaiti iho, ā, i whakapiki ake te reo Ingarihi. Heoi, i te ngahurutanga 1970-1979, i whakarerekē tēnei, i tīmata ētahi tāngata ki te whawhai mō te reo Māori. I te ngahurutanga i whai ake, i whakatū ngā kura reo Māori hei whakapiki i te reo Māori. I whakatū te ture hei whakamana ā-ture te reo Māori (ā, ehara te reo Ingarihi i te reo ā-ture, ko te reo ā-waha noa). I muri ake i ēnei, i whakatūria Te Māngai Pāho me te Whakaata Māori. Kei te whakanui hoki tātou i te wiki o te reo Māori.
Ko te mea hirahira o ēnei momo whakahaumanutanga, ko te Tiriti o Waitangi. Kāore e kore, he take rangirua te Tiriti mō Aotearoa. Engari, i whakaako au, ko te Tiriti te take i taea ai e tātou te whawhai mō te whakatipuranga o te reo Māori.
Hei tauira: kei te whenua o te Hononga o Amerika, tokomaha ngā iwi taketake. Ahakoa ka whakarōpūtia rātou e te kāwanatanga, he tino rerekē ngā iwi ki ētahi atu iwi o te whenua. Arā, mō tētahi tangata, nō ngā iwi e rua – kei te noho ēnei iwi i ngā taha o tētahi awa, engari, kāore e taea e ngā iwi te kōrero ō rātou ake reo taketake ki te iwi atu – he rerekē rawa ngā reo. Engari, ki Aotearoa, ahakoa he rerekē ngā reo ā-iwi, i te nuinga o te wā, ka taea e ētahi atu iwi te mārama.
Ko te rahi o te whenua tētahi mea rerekē hoki o te Hononga o Amerika ki Aotearoa, ko tētahi mea uaua hoki mō rātou. Kei te whai tērā whenua i ngā ture ā-whenua, me ngā ture ā-rohe, nō reira, he tino uaua rawa ki te whawhai mō te whakaaetanga o te mana o ngā reo. He ture mō ētahi iwi taketake, mō ō rātou reo i ētahi rohe, engari, ehara mō te whenua katoa rite ki Aotearoa. Ki Aotearoa, nā te whakatūranga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i taea ai te whawhai mō te mana o te reo Māori. He ‘taonga’ te reo Māori, nō reira, kei a tātou te rangatiratanga ki te whakamahi i te reo Māori.
Ināianei, ka titiro ētahi atu iwi taketake ki ngā momo whakahaumanu o te reo Māori. Ki Hawai’i, ka whakatū ētahi kura reo taketake mō ngā tamariki kia ako i tō rātou reo. Ka pīrangi ētahi iwi taketake ki te tae atu ki te taumata o te reo Māori ki Aotearoa.
Ahakoa he pai ake ētahi o ngā āhuatanga o te reo Māori i ētahi atu whenua, he maha ngā mahi e toe ana. Tau kē te wiki o te reo Māori ki te whakanuia te reo, engari, mō ētahi tāngata, ko tēnei te wiki anake e kōrero ana, e whakamahi ana rātou i te reo Māori. I te mutunga o te wiki, i ngaro anō, i huna anō, te reo Māori. Ko te whakamāoritanga o te reo Māori tōku tino wawata. Mai i te kura ki te umanga, mai i te kāinga, ki te kāwanatanga, ki te hapori hoki. Āe, he mahi uaua tēnei, engari kaua e wareware e pā ana ki ētahi atu iwi taketake nā rātou i tino tata ki te ngaro i ō rātou reo. Mō ētahi reo taketake, ka kōrero ngā kaumātua anake. Me haere tonu tātou ki te whakamahi, ki te whakaako, ki te tautoko i te reo. Hei aha te nui, te iti rānei – me tarai tātou ki te whakamahia te reo!
He tūrua hakatūpato
(A warning vision)
The loss of the Moa and the Huia by extinction is used extensively throughout Māoridom as a metaphor for the potentiality of the Māori language to die out, and as a warning, cautioning generations to take appropriate measures to ensure the language’s survival. This colourful piece is written in the first person, and describes a vision-like encounter with a Moa, and a Huia. They describe the ways in which their kind was killed off, and warn the reader to learn from the events of the past, lest history repeat itself in Te Reo today.
Ka tū mokemoke ahau i te Wao-nui-a-Tane.
Kei hea rā te tangi o ngā manu, kei hea rā?
Kei hea rā te kikī, te kakā
O te hunga iti o te Wao-Nui?
Kei hea rā…
I ahau e riripi haere ana ki roto i te ngahere; e āio ana ki te rongo i te koekoe a tūi, te ketekete a kākā, te tīoioi a kūkū; te hakangū i te hā e āwhio ake ana i a Tāne-mahuta me āna tini mokopuna; ka tūpono kite ahau i ētahi atārangi e whitirua mai ana.
Ka hakatata atu ahau. Hūkeke pai ahau ki te kite ake i tētahi pīki tinana. Ko tōna mātotorutanga ake he hope pīoioi, ā, he kakī whēnekeneke. I tōna tahataha e kūpapa mai ana, ko tētahi manu ātaahua, nikaka nei te tae o wōna parirau. Ko ōna ngutu, e whātero mai ana, ā, kua kiritea te ate o wōna awe.
Tēnā koe, e Moa. Tēnā koe, e Huia.
Kua roa mātou e noho pōhara ana i te taiao, e noho mokemoke ana ki a kōrua. Tēnā, hakamārama mai ki te mokopuna nei, he aha i mahue mai ai mātou i a kōrua? He aha te moa me te huia i mate ai?
E te mokopuna o ōu tūpuna, tāria ake te nuku o te ao kua noho hakaaraara māua ki roto i a koe. Tēnā, hoki muri mai ki te wā o ōu tūpuna, ki muri noa mai i te taketakenga o tō ira tangata. I te korekoretanga mai o te ao, arā te kāhui manu e rērere hua ana; i noho haumaru a Moa mā ki ngā awaawa, ki nga korahatanga o te muri waho. Nā Rongo rāua ko Haumia-tiketike mātou i atawhai ki ā rāua hua maha.
Auē taukiri ē! Tau mai rā ngā hau mātaotao a Tāwhiri-mātea; ngā kuru koikoi wera a Maru iwi; inā te mangungu a Tū, nāna te whiu a ngā maikuku o Mahuika! I reira mātou i hinga, ko wō mātou whēua i ngahoro noa ki te puhi o te hau hei toketokenga kai!
He uri koe, e te mokopuna, nō te awe tāpara. Nā tōna tete koi i rere ai taku toto i hīpokina ai ki te whenua e kīa nei ko tō tūranga ūkaipo. Nā reira e te mokopuna, tukua te puehu o te riri kia takataka e ngā tapuwae o te wā. Anō me te kete kāinga e riringi ana ki ngā pari, rukea te ngārara o te hakapehapeha me te tauapo hei oranga mo ōku tātai heke o muri nei.
E te tupuna Huia, kua hakatairangatia koe e taku iwi hei tohu tupua, hei pare ariki. Nō konēi koe i hakangau e te mano tāngata hei tikitiki mō tōna mātenga. Koirā tēnei i mate ai koe?
E te mokopuna o ōu tūpuna, kua kakati te tangi o te aumangea i te rirohanga atu o te tōtara i tere rā ki te moana. Ko tā namata wā, i te wā o ōu tūpuna, te pūtahitanga mai o taku mate. I tukua nei ahau hei parehuia, te marereko o te pakanga e tohu ana i ōu tino rangatira. Erangi, ka eke tini rawa haere te hiahia ki ōku kura, anō me te taenga mai o te Pākeha, te ngarara i takahikahi noatia te tapu o tēnei tikanga hakaaro i waenganui i a māua. I reira mātou i hinga. He kohikohinga kiri mōkai i ngaro noa ki ngā hau e whā, hei hohoni pēpepe.
'He ao te rangi ka uhia, he huruhuru te manu ka rere.' Kei hea rā taku korowai mahana, kua huhutitia wōku kura. Nā, ka pū ake a Urukārearea, te hau makariri nō te tai tawhiti, ka puhi, ka tuhawiri taku tinana, pāpaku mai, kua mate rā ahau.
Nā reira e te mokopuna o ōu tūpuna, hikina tēnei taki nō tua hakarere hei tohu hakatūpato mō ngā haukino o tōu rā.
Kia waiho tārewa ake au i tēnei hei motu kai tāwhara mō te whakaaro: “E tū i te tū a te uru Kahikātea”. Mā te paihere o ngā pakiaka ki a rātou anō, ka piri tahi, ka noho tahi. Mei kore e pēnei a Māori i tōna reo, ka pēnā hoki i a Huia rāua ko Moa, mate waiwaiā atu!
Uhi, wero, tau mai te mauri. Ko te toki kia eke, eke panuku, eke Tangaroa. Haumi ē, hui ē, tāiki ē!
*A special thanks to Puketeraki Marae for allowing us to take photographs.