How about a mihimihi, introducing yourself, in te reo Māori?

Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Waikato University professor Tom Roa has translated Alice in Wonderland into Māori. His next project is The Hobbit. (Video first published January 10, 2021.)

OPINION: As New Zealanders mark Waitangi Day it is a good time to reflect on where we have been, where we are now and where we want to be in the future.

I a tātou o Aotearoa e whakamihi ana i Te Rā o Waitangi, me mahara tātou ki tō tātou ahunga mai, ki tō tātou noho ināianei, ā, ki tō tātou e manako nei kia ahu whakamua ki hea.

New Zealanders calling for te reo to be taught in schools, marched on our parliament with the Māori Language Petition in 1972. Their peaceful protests led to the successful WAI11 Māori Language claim which also created our whare, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission.

Nō te tau 1972 i kawea te Petihana o Te Reo Māori ki tō tātou whare paremata e te hunga e kōkiri ana kia whakaakona te reo Māori i ngā kura. Nā ā rātou tohenga ā- rongo i whai hua ai te kerēme WAI11 mō te Reo Māori, nāna anō i tū ai te whare o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

* Position particles put you in prime position to lift your te reo skills

* Is listening to an address in te reo really a hardship to whine about?

* Everyone who learns te reo Māori is special

Professor Rawinia Higgins, the Chairperson of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission. She is encouraging everyone to learn how to mihimihi, introduce themselves in te reo Māori.

In 2016, 30-years after the Waitangi Tribunal report that led to te reo becoming an official language in its own land: our chief executive Ngahiwi Apanui was looking at black and white photographs of Māori language protests and decided to create Māori language parades. Many told him no one would turn up.

Nō te tau 2016, 30 tau i muri mai i te pūrongo a Te Taraipiunara o Waitangi nāna anō i whai mana ai te reo hei reo ōkawa i tōna ake whenua; i te titiro whakamuri nei tō mātou tumuaki, a Ngāhiwi Apanui ki ngā whakaahua pango me te mā, o ngā porotēhi mō te reo Māori, ka whakataua e ia kia whakaritea anō ngā hīkoi reo Māori. Ka nui rawa te hunga whakahē i kī mai, kāore he tangata e puta mai.

Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield is learning how to speak te reo Māori.

But when he and All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder walked out of our building and turned the corner towards Lambton Quay: thousands were waiting to march with them in our inaugural Māori Language Parade. Every year the parades have grown, thousands more from all ethnicities have marched with us and in 2019 they were held in seven cities across New Zealand.

Engari nō tōna putanga i tō mātou whare, rāua ko te toa Kapa o Pango, a Nehe Milner-Skudder ka huri i te kokonga kia aro ki te huarahi o Lambton: i reira te tini o te tangata e tatari ana ki te hīkoi tahi me rāua i tō mātou Hīkoi Reo Māori tuatahi nei. I ia tau i muri mai ka nui kē atu ngā hīkoi me te tokomaha o ngā iwi huhua e hīkoi tahi ana, ā, nō te tau 2019 i tū ngā hīkoi ki ngā tāone nui e whitu puta noa i Aotearoa.

Last year COVID-19 changed everything. Instead of meeting up on the streets: we met up online and ended up making history with our Māori Language Moment which saw more than 1 million of us celebrating te reo at the same time. We are focused on growing 1 million speakers of te reo by 2040: this is what we need to revitalise the language. We know it takes one generation to lose a language and three generations to get it back.

Nō tērā tau, ka huri kē te ao i te Mate Korona. Ka mahue te hui ki ngā tiriti, ka hui kē ki te ipurangi, ka mutu ka tū te kaupapa nui o Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori kia whakanuia te reo e te kotahi miriona o tātou i te wā kotahi. E aronui ana mātou ki te whai kia kotahi miriona anō ngā kaikōrero reo Māori i mua i te paunga o te tau 2040: me whai rawa e tātou ko tēnei e ora ai te reo. Kei te mōhio mātou ka ngaro te reo i te reanga kotahi, me toru reanga anō e hoki ora mai ai.

It is interesting to look at what Māori language champions in the 1980s hoped would be in place by now. One hope was all government heads would speak te reo by 2000. This is not the case, I am guessing but suspect that few of our CEOs and Deputy CEOs are Māori speakers.

Sales of te reo Māori books, either written in the language or about learning to speak it, have become increasingly popular.

Heoi anō e hoki ana ngā mahara ki ngā toa o te reo Māori i ngā tau o 1980 me ō rātou tūmanako mō ēnei rā. Ko tētahi o aua tūmanako kia kōrero ngā tumuaki katoa o ngā tari kāwanatanga i te reo Māori. Kāore i te pērā, ki taku whakaaro he torutoru noa ō tātou tumuaki, tumuaki tuarua hoki e kōrero Māori ana.

One exception is Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Secretary of Health, who has been learning te reo for some time. The good news is that more and more agencies are implementing Māori language plans that will help establish baselines, targets and learning tools. This is something our organisation helps with. Leadership like this helps to encourage organisations to embrace te reo Māori as our first language as part of our norm.

Hāunga anō a Tākuta Ashley Bloomfield, Tumuaki o Te Manatū Hauora, kua roa nei e akoako ana i te reo Māori. Ko te mea pai, kei te nui haere ngā tari e whakatinana mahere reo Māori ana hei whakatau i ngā pae tīmatanga, i ngā whāinga me ngā tikanga akoako. Koinei te mahi a tō mātou tari hei āwhina. Mā ēnei momo tohutohu e ārahi ngā tari ki te whai i te reo Māori hei reo matua e tangata whenua ai hei reo mō tātou.

Learning a language is about starting out small and making that first step: no one will be an expert in a day or even a week. We recently interviewed former Te Puni Kōkiri head Sir Wira Gardiner about his journey to fluency that began when he was a chief executive himself. He told us there is no escaping embarrassment so all there is left is to try: “Don’t be ashamed. We have to get into a mindset where mistakes will be made, and mistakes are a stepping stone to learning and becoming adept and proficient at the language. And for those who know te reo Māori my advice is to be gentle and be kind.”

He mea iti te tīmatanga ki te ako i te reo: kāore te tangata e matatau i te rangi kotahi, i te wiki rānei. Nō nā tata nei i uiui mātou i a Tā Wira Gardiner, tumuaki o mua o Te Puni Kōkiri, mō tana huarahi ako i te reo kia matatau i tīmata i a ia e noho tumuaki ana. Ko tāna, kāore e taea te whakamā te karo, kotahi tonu te huarahi, me ngana: “Kaua e whakamā. Me mātua mōhio tātou ka hapa, heoi mā te hapa e mōhio ai, e mātau ai ki te reo. Nā, me atawhai, me aroha mai te hunga matatau ki te reo.”

That’s why this month our team has a new challenge for New Zealanders: learn how to introduce yourself in te reo Māori by saying your name, where your ancestors come from (if you want to or can!) and where you live. Whether in a Zui (Zoom hui in te reo) or introducing yourself at a face to face meeting: being able to introduce yourself in te reo is a helpful tool. Check it out. We have some familiar faces, who have recorded their mihimihi for us. Give it a go e hoa mā!

Nā reira kua whakatakotohia te wero e tō mātou tari mō tēnei marama mō ngā tāngata o Aotearoa: me ako ki te whakamōhio atu ki te reo Māori, ko wai koe, arā, ko wai tō ingoa, nō hea ō tīpuna (mēnā e hiahia ana, e mōhio ana rānei!), kei hea hoki koe e noho ana. He mea nui te whakamōhio atu i a koe ki te reo Māori, ahakoa ā-Hui Topa (Hui Zoom i te reo Māori), ā-kanohi rānei. Tēnā, tirohia mai. He kanohi ēnei e mōhiotia ana, e mihimihi ana ki a tātou. Karawhiua e hoa mā!

Last month I was honoured to be elected onto the Global Taskforce for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032, a UNESCO initiative. Set up in the wake of WWII, UNESCO exists to help build peace in the minds of all people. We know that when it comes to building peace in New Zealand, some of those building blocks have been made out of te reo Māori.

Kāti, nō tērā marama i kōwhiria au hei māngai i te kaupapa o UNESCO, arā, o te Rōpū Kōkiri o Te Ao mō Te Tekau Tau o Te Ao o Ngā Reo Taketake 2022-2032. I whakatūria a UNESCO i muri tata mai i te Pakanga Tuarua o Te Ao hei hohou i te rongo i ngā tāngata katoa. Kei te mōhio tonu tātou, mō te hohou i te rongo i Aotearoa nei, nō te reo Māori anō ētahi o ana tikanga.

More New Zealanders are embracing our language than ever before. During Māori Language Week 2020 1.1 million joined us in the biggest Māori language event in history. Te reo is becoming normalised across our country whether it’s on our streets or our screens. These are small ways we can measure how we are going when it comes to peacefulness and reconciliation. Last December we commissioned Colmar Brunton to tell us how New Zealanders see te reo and more than 8 in 10 of us see it as part of our identity as a New Zealander: people see te reo as something that brings us together.

Kātahi anō ka kite i te nui haere o ngā tāngata o Aotearoa e whai ana i tō tātou reo. Ka tūhono mai ko te 1.1 miriona tāngata ki te kaupapa reo Māori nui whakaharahara i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2020. Kei te tangata whenua haere te reo i tō tātou whenua, ahakoa i ō tātou tiriti, i ō tātou matahiko rānei. He āhuatanga iti ēnei e kitea ai, e mōhiotia ai te taunga o te rangimārie, te hohounga hoki o te rongo. Nō tērā o ngā Hakihea/Tīhema i tonoa e mātou kia rangahaua e Colmar Brunton e pēhea ana te titiro a ngā tāngata o Aotearoa ki te reo, ā, ko tā rātou i kite ai he neke atu i te 8 o te 10 o tātou e mea ana he wāhi tō te reo ki te tuakiritanga o Aotearoa; he kaupapa whakakotahi hoki te reo i a tātou.

New Zealand’s Māori language journey over the past half century has been epic and we are excited at what lies ahead. Our people’s support for the first language of our nation is something that unites us and makes us New Zealanders unique as envisioned by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ehara i te hanga tēnei mea te whai a te reo Māori i ngā rima tekau tau ka taha nei, ā, e hīkaka katoa ana mātou ki te anga whakamua. Ko te tautoko a ō tātou iwi i te reo matua o tō tātou whenua te kaupapa e whakakotahi nei i a tātou, e whakamana motuhake nei i a tātou ki tā Te Tiriti o Waitangi i kī ai.

Kia kaha te reo Māori!

Professor Rawinia Higgins is Toihau/Chair of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission.