He tohu mamae, he tohu maumahara:
Tēnei te whakairi i ngā parekawakawa o ngā mate kua whetūrangi ki te pō, ōtira ki ngā kanohi kua tae, kua wehe i tō tātou whare wananga nei. He tohu maumaharatanga ki ngā mate, ki ngā mata o ngā tauira i eke nei ki te paepae tapu o Rangiāhuta.
Tēnei te aitua, te mamae i pā mai i a mātou Te Herenga Waka, i a mātau a Ngāi Tauira. Kua horo te whatumanawa, kua haehae te manawa e te parekura.
Ko tēnei te reo hotuhotu, ko tēnei te reo taretare ka puta i to wehenga atu e te tama, a Flaun Taurima. Noho mai tō wairua i te pō nakonako e karangaranga, e powhiri ana, e tangi āpakura atu ki tōu haerenga. Ko koe rā te maunga tiketike mai Kahungunu, hoki tō wairua ki ngā titiko o te rangi.
Hoe to waka huia ki ngā wahi tōtoko o te mata o te ao, ki ngā whenua kamehameha a ō matua tipuna. Tae atu to waka ki rangitūhāhā, a, ki a Hawaiki nui, Hawaiki roa, Hawaiki pamamao.
Hoki atu rā ki o mātua tipuna, haere, haere, haere atu rā.
Me waihoa te hunga mate ki te hunga mate, te hunga ora ki te hunga ora. Tēnā koutou katoa.
This year’s publication of Te Ao Mārama is brought to you by Ngāi Tauira, in an annual colloboration with Salient. This year’s theme is “He aha te māramatanga i to Ao”; “What is most important thing in your life?”
The first issue of Te Ao Mārama was published in 1974. Ngāi Tauira, the Māori Students’ Asssociation of Victoria University, strategised ways to promote and uplift our language throughout Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. The journey then began, working along side Salient, to produce a magazine that not only enhanced our beautiful languge but to celebrate our up and coming writers and language learners. The ultimate goal was to produce an issue that was totally immersed in Te Reo Māori.
Though this hasn’t been the case this year, every signle piece that has been contributed to this issue has come from a standpoint of Te Ao Māori me ōna tikanga. The name “Te Ao Mārama” comes from a myth that Māori hold very close to our culture and our identity. In the beginning, in the period of darkness, nothingness, there was no sun or moon. Papatuanuku lay bare on her back, Ranginui lay on top of her, leaving there children between the two. The world (Te Ao) was dark; there was no room for growth, no room for warmth and no room for prosperity. Tanemahuta, the god of knowledge, seperated his parents, not because of his own selfish needs but beacuase he wanted there to be light in this world. So the world passed on from darkness of Te Po into the world of the light and living, Te Ao Mārama. This prestigious name has been bestowed on Salient for Māori Language week.