HE TUHINGA roa tēnei e whakamarama i te hītori me ngā mahi o tētahi Tari Kawana e kiia nei ko Te Taura Whri i te Reo Māori. I te wāhanga tuatahi, ka kōrero ahau mō te hītori o te Reo i mua i te taenga mai o te iwi Pākehā tae noa ki te tau 1986. I te wāhanga tuarua ka kōrero hoki ahau mō te patai nei, na wai te Reo i whakaara, he aha te take i whakaarahia te Reo, ā, nōnahea Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i timata ai. I te wāhanga tuatoru, ka kōrero ahau mō ngā whakaritenga me ngā whakahaere o ngā mahi i ēnei rā tonu. I te wāhanga tuawhā, ka kōrero hoki ahau mō ngā hua pai i puta i te ao Māori, me ngā tauira hei whakamarama i ā rātou mahi. Hei whakakapi i aku kōrero ko te matakite a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me ōku nei whakaaro mō tēnei kaupapa.
I ngā ra o mua, i mua i te taenga o ngā tāngata Pākehā ki kōnei, ko te Reo Māori te Reo matua o Aotearoa, ēngari i piki ake te hunga Pākehā e noho nei i ngā tau 1850. I te tau 1867, i ū te ture mō ngā kura tangata whenua, kia kaua rātou e kōrero i te Reo i roto i ngā kura. Nā reira, ko tēnei te timatanga o te waimemehatanga o te Reo Rangatira, nā te mea mēnā i kōrero Māori ngā tamariki i roto i ngā Kura ka ahei ngā kaiako Pākehā te patu i a rātou. Nā tērā i mataku ai rātou ki te kōrero i te Reo. Ko te take i pērā ai ngā ture kia ahei te Reo Pākehā te piki. I waenga i ngā tau 1978-1985, i whakatū ētahi rōpū whakahaere hei whakaora i te Reo, arā ko te kura o Rūātoki, ko Te Ātaarangi, ko Te Wānanga o Raukawa, ko te Reo irirangi o Ngāti Porou, ko te Reo irirangi o te Ūpoko o te Ika me te Kura Kaupapa Māori tuatahi ērā. I te tau 1986, i mauria atu tētahi kerēme ki te Taraipiunara o Waitangi e mohiotia nei, ko te kerēme mo Te Reo Māori. Kātahi te ture mo te Reo Māori ka pahure hei Reo atoato i Aotearoa kia piki ake te Reo ki te panekiretanga, kia whakamanahia ngā kōrero i waenga i te wāhanga tuarua o Te Tiriti o Waitangi arā, he kuru pounamu te Reo. I taua wā tonu, ka tū Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori hei Tari Kawana hei whanaketanga hei tautoko hoki i te Reo.
I whakatūhia Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori na runga i te whakaaro i tukuna kētia te kerēme mo Te Reo Māori ki te Taraipiunara o Waitangi.
Nā ētahi pouwhakakikiwa i kawe i te kerēme ki taua Taraipiunara. I whakaritea e rātou i ō rātou mahi i te wharekai i te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui, arā ko Ngā Mokopuna tērā. Ko tētahi kaitono, ko Huirangi Waikerepuru.
Ko ngā whakahiato o te kerēme i ahu mai i te koingo o ngā kaitono kia eke te Reo Rangatira ki tōna tāpuhipuhitanga, “he pare kawakawa, he mea hirahira” te Reo. I tū Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i te 1 o Here-turi-kōkā i te tau 1987. Neke atu i te $2.3 miriona mō ā rātou mahi ia tau. Kei Te Whanganui A Tara te pūtake o te tari. Kei raro rātou i te maru o te Kawanatanga.
Ināianei, he Tari Kawana tino hirahira Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori mō te whakaoranga o te Reo Rangatira. Ko mea tino nui ki a rātou, ko te hapai o te Reo. Ko tētahi tino koingo o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori kia
“whakatairanga tonu i te Reo Māori i waenganui i te iwi whānui o Aotearoa, hei tautoko i te hunga kōrero Māori ki te kōrero Māori i a ra, ahakoa i hea, ahakoa ki a wai”
Ko ā rātou whāinga ināianei, e tautoko ana rātou i ngā kaupapa e whanake ana i te Reo. Mehemea, he kaupapa tau kia piki ake te Reo, ka taea e koe te tono ki a rātou mō ētahi putea hei tautoko i to kōhohete, i to taupatupatu, i to kemu patapatai, i tētahi atu mea e pihi ana te Reo. Ko ‘Mā te Reo’ te ingoa o te putea tautoko nei. Nā te Kawana i hoatu te putea ki Te Taura Whiri e $1.8 miriona, te putea hei awhiawhi i ngā kaupapa Reo Māori. Mēnā, kua tūtuki te kaitono i ngā whakaritenga katoa, nā Te Taura Whiri i hoatu ngā putea ki ngā kaitono. Ko ētahi atu mea tautoko kia reanga i te Reo nā ngā whakatairanga. Ko te tino whāinga a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ko te whakawhanui o te Reo mā te kairangatira o ngā kōrero-ā-waha me ngā kōrero-ā-tuhi. I rangahau rātou i ngā take whakahaere mō te whakaoranga o te Reo me te whakawhanui o te pukapuka rārangi kupu.
Ko ngā mea pai kua puta ki te ao Māori, ae marika!
I a tau mō ngā tau e whā, i whakatū te whakatairanga e kii ana ko ‘Kōrero Māori’, kia taea e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori te hoatu i ngā rauemi hei whakamahi mo te Reo ahakoa ko wai koe. Ko ētahi atu mea e whakaritea ana e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ko ‘te raumati o te Reo Māori’ ko te whakanui e mōhiotia nei ko ‘Matariki’, ko ‘ngā paraihe mō te wiki o te Reo Māori’, ko ‘te ra o te Reo Māori’ hoki. Mā te whakatairanga o ‘Kōrero Māori’ i tū ai ēnei tūmomo mea hei whakawhānui i te Reo arā ko ngā whakaata i runga i te pouaka whakaata Māori, arā ko Kupuhuna, ko ngā Reo irirangi, ko ngā rauemi mo te rorohiko me ngā rauemi mō ngā mātua hei awhiawhi i te Reo o ā rātou tamariki, “kia maha ake ngā wāhi e kōrerotia ana te Reo Māori”. Ko ēnei huhua katoa e piki ake ana i te Reo. Nā ēnei whakatairanga me ēnei putea tautoko, ka ahei te Reo ki te matomato i te tuatahi, i waenga i ngā tāngata whenua, i te tuarua, i waenga i ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa nei.
Ka huri ōku whakaaro ki ētahi whakatauki. Ko te tuatahi, ‘Ma pango mā whero ka oti te mahi’ i te horopaki o te Reo Māori ka taea e tātou ki te kii, ma Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, mā ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, ka ora te Reo Māori, arā mā te whangaihia a te katoa o tātou, ka tau te Reo i runga i te tihi o te maramatanga. Ka aro au ki ngā kupu tino rongonui a Ranginui Walker, “Ka whawhai tonu mātou”, arā, kei a tātou katoa te kaha ki te whawhai mō tēnei tino kaupapa mō te whakamanatanga mo te Reo me ōna tikanga mā runga anō i te Tiriti o Waitangi, me te whakaoranga o te Reo hei taonga ki te tuku ki a tātou tamariki, mokopuna. Nō reira kia kaha, kia maia ki ēnei momo mahi, pērā ki “te tū toka moana” arā, ahakoa ngā piki me ngā heke, ahakoa te ngaru toa hei patu i a koe, me tūkaha hei whakaruruhau i te Reo Māori mō ngā uri kei te heke mai!.
Ko te matakite a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ko tēnei, “Kia ora te Reo Māori hei Reo matua mō Aotearoa – Māori language is a living national taonga for all New Zealanders”. Ko ngā tino karere ki ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, ko ēnei, ko te Reo Māori, he Reo mō ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, ko te Reo Māori tētahi o ngā mea rerekē mō ngā tāngata nō kōnei, “whaia kia ngakaunui mai te motu ki te Reo Rangatira”, me tautoko te rere me te whakahua o te Reo hei Reo kairangatira. Nō reira, ko Te Taura Whiri tētahi tari hei whakamana i te Reo Māori.
Ko te mea nui i tēnei ao ko te tuakiri o ia tangata, nā te rerekētanga o te Reo Māori, ka taea e ngā tāngata nō tāwahi ki te mōhio te wairua motuhake o te tangata, nā te Reo kua puta. Nā reira, ki ōku nei whakaaro, he mea pai kia tangata whenua te Reo Māori, kia mōhio ai, ko wai tētahi tangata no Aotearoa. Mēnā i te pīrangi ahau ki te kōrero Māori i tētahi toa hokohoko, tērā pea, kāore au e taea ki te kōrero ki taua toa hokohoko i te Reo, nā te mea, ko te ahua nei, kāore ia e whakamarama ki ōku kōrero. E ai ki a Timoti Karetu, me whakamanahia tātou i te tangata e mōhio ana ki te whakamahi te Reo i te mea me ahei tātou ki te whiriwhiri ko tēhea Reo e hiahia ana tātou te kōrero, ā, me mārama te kaikōrero ki te whakahoki i te Reo e kōrero ana te tangata tuatahi.
Ki ōku nei whakaaro, he āhua kino tērā nā te mea ehara te Reo Pākehā i te Reo Rangatira o tēnei whenua! Ko te Reo Māori kē! Mā te Reo Māori ka ahei koe ki te whakamarama i te hītori me ngā kōrero o tuawhakarere. Mēnā, ka ngaro te Reo, tērā pea, ka roroku tā tātou Māoritanga. Engari, mā te kaha o ētahi tangata ki te ako ki te piki ake i te Reo, mā te kaha a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo me kii, ki te whakamana i te Reo, hei Reo rangatira, hei Reo whakahī o Aotearoa nei, ka rea ake te Reo Māori. Nā reira, “ko te Reo te hā, te mauri o te Māoritanga”, arā he mea tino hirahira ki tā te Māori kia mōhio ai, ko wai tātou, ā no hea tātou. Nā, mā te Reo Māori me ōna tikanga, ka taea e tātou te mōhio! He Māori! No Aotearoa! Kua tau te mauri. “Ka rea te kakano!”.
Ka atawhai Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i tō tātou nei Reo Rangatira, nō reira, me atawhai tātou i tō tātou Reo Rangatira nā te mea he taonga tuku iho nō ngā tūpuna. Me tautoko tātou ki a tātou kia rea ake te reo “kia kore e rite ki te moa”, kia kore e ngaro, kia kore e mate. E waimarie ana tātou mō Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me ā rātou mahi mō te whāngaitanga o te Reo o ngā Rangatira arā ko te Reo Māori!
He mihi nui ki ngā kaitono mō ā rātou mahi kia whakatū te tari kawana nei. Mei kore ake Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori kua kore te Reo, nā tā rātou kaha ki te whakaū i te Reo ki tōna akeake rangatiratanga! Nā tō rātou tautoko hoki a tētahi ki tētahi, ka āhei tātou anga whakamua kia whanake ai te Reo. Nā reira, he mea tino hirahira te whakaoranga o te Reo Rangatira i te mea, ko tōku reo tōku ohooho! Ko tōku mapihi maurea, arā koira tōku Reo hei maranga ake i tōku hinengaro. Nā te Reo Māori, kua hāpaitia tōku wairua, kua oho ōku mahara! Nā ēnei hua pai, koinei ngā take mō ōku koingo ki te ako i te Reo Māori!
Kia Mau.
Kia Ita.
Kia Mataara.