I ēnei rā kua tāpiri te maha o ngā kupu pukapuka ki te ipurangi kia āhei ngā tauira ki te pānui i ngā kōrero ki te kāinga, ki te rūma rorohiko rānei. Engari, ka manawa rau te tauira i te pouaka whakaata, te pukapuka kanohi rānei, ko te hua, kāore te tauira e rongo i te ia o te kōrero. Ka huri ngā mahi ki ngā rā tōmua, ko te wānanga me te whakawhiti whakaaro i tētahi wāhi whakahihiko hinengaro.
I te tīmatanga o tēnei marama ka huraina e Te Whare Wānanga o te Upoko o te Ika wētahi pukapuka e aro ana ki ngā kaupapa o te ao Māori me ngā āhuatanga o Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa hoki. Koinei te ‘Māori and Pasifika Collection’. Kei ‘Te Pātaka Kōrero’, arā, ko te Whare Pukapuka Matua ki te maunga Ahumairangi, wēnei pukapuka. E noho ana wēnei taonga, wēnei rauemi i roto i te wāhi hou mō ngā tauira Māori tauira Pasifika hoki.
Kua tapaina tēnei wāhi ‘Te Taratara-ā-Kae’, i ahu mai tēnei ingoa mai i ngā kōrero o Tinirau rāua ko Tutunui, he pakiwaitara e hono ana ki te Māori tātou ko ngā whānaunga o te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa. Waihoki, ko te ingoa he kupu mō te whakairo tawhito kei ngā pātaka o nehe.
He wāhi tēnei e rāhiri, e raupi ake nei i ngā tauira. Anō nei he whare e hāpai ana ki te aki i ngā tauira e nanaiore ana i te ara tukutuku o Poutama. Ka tiro māhoi e koe ki waho rā ka kitea te tino ātaahua o Te Whanganui-ā-Tara. Ka whakairia ētahi whakaahua e whakaatu i ngā whainga o ngā tauira ki te taupaepae matua. Ka tū tētahi pou whakairo i te tomokanga o Te Taratara-ā-Kae. Kei te pito o tēnei wāhi he whāriki, rite tonu te āhua o tēnei ki te putiputi ātaahua, arā, ko te frangipani, i tukua mai e Avis Higgs tēnei whāriki. Waihoki, ka āhei ngā tauira Pasifika ki te whakamahi i tēnei whāriki mō ō rātou ‘fono’, he tino taonga tēnei.
Ki te whakanui i tēnei kaupapa kua tū tētahi whakataetae i waenga i ngā tauira ki te whakahoahoa tētahi tohu mō te tarakina o ngā pukapuka. Kei a Emma Gardiner tēnei hōnore, ka tāpirihia tōna mahi ki ngā pukapuka katoa.
Neke atu i te waru rau o ngā pukapuka i roto i tēnei whakaputunga mō ngā tauira me ngā kaiako e ako ana ki runga i ngā mahinga Māori, mahinga Pasifika hoki. He rauemi tino whakahirahira mō ēnei tāngata e whai ana ki te piki ake ki runga i te ara kairangi. Me te mea nei, he wāhi mō te kotahi, te ako-ā-rōpū, ngā akomanga iti me ngā wānanga.
Kua wehe ngā pukapuka ki roto i ngā kaupapa matua, hei tauira ko Hītori, ko Mātātuhi (Literature), ko Hoahoanga (Architecture) me ērā atu kaupapa. Ko te tino whainga i tēnei wā ki te rapu ētahi atu pukapuka rauemi rānei kia eke ki te 1500 pukapuka. Atu i tērā, ko te tikanga kua huri rauna wēnei pukapuka i waenga i ngā whare pukapuka o Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria.
Nō reira, kia mahia ai tēnei rauemi hei taputapu mō tōu hanga whakaaro, me kī, “He mata toki pounamu, e tū te tātai o te whakairo”.
Hei te ata pongipongi o te ra 28th o Hōngongoi ka tū te rā whakatuwhera o Te Taratara-ā-Kae. Kei te taumata tuarua, te tomokanga o te whare, ka kitea tēnei wāhi.
Inā he pātai ōu, tēnā pātai atu ki a David Kukutai Jones.
Pou Whakaapa – Māori and Pasifika Librarian:
Phone: 04 463 9608
Email: David.Jones@vuw.ac.nz