Reo radicals welcomed to Parliament, 50 years later

Wednesday, 14 September 2022

On September 14, 1972, Rawiri Paratene was among the group that presented the Māori language petition to Parliament. The petition became the starting point for a significant revitalisation of te reo. (First published September 9, 2022.)

Moana Maniapoto declared “makariri” as the kupu o te rā but the cold couldn’t dampen the excitement of tamariki who joined politicians in celebrating te reo Māori at Parliament.

A few thousand people gathered on Wednesday for a celebration marking 50 years since Te Petihana Reo Māori, the historic Māori Language Petition, was delivered to Parliament.

Yes, it was makariri in Te Whanganui-a-Tara – but hundreds of tamariki, rangatahi and a few police officers too, still waited patiently and ate ice creams on Parliament’s lawn.

Thousands gather at Parliament for the 50th anniversary of Te Petihana Reo Māori.

Musician Rob Ruha, who has been credited for taking te reo global with his bilingual hits 35 and That’s Where I’ll Be, performed on the steps of Parliament House.

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Children climb street lamps to watch proceedings at the 50-year anniversary of Te Petihana Reo Māori.

* Te Petihana Reo Māori celebrates milestone with Wellington exhibition

Tamariki and mokopuna were a major focus of reo Māori celebrations in Wellington.

* Engia kua toa te kōura: Ko tā Rawiri Paratene nō ngā tau e 50 i muri i te petihana reo Māori

* Like winning an Olympic gold: Rawiri Paratene 50 years on from Māori language petition

Tamariki from far and wide came to celebrate te reo Māori at Parliament.

Kai, including ice cream, hāngi and sausages was given out at the Reo Māori celebration.

Meanwhile, a high school kapa haka ope (group) that had travelled to Wellington recorded TikTok videos outside the Beehive, and tauira (students) from Te Kōhanga Reo o Tītahi Bay climbed Parliament’s rebuilt slide.

Older children perched on statues and street lamps to watch the proceedings, which included speeches from Acting Prime Minister Grant Robertson and kaumātua who presented Te Petihana to Parliament 50 years ago.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, 19, spoke to ministers and the crowd about the intergenerational mission to revitalise te reo Māori.

Alisha Hiakita joined her daughter, 3-year-old Ria-āio’s kōhanga at Parliament, as a mark of respect to the generations who established the revitalised reo Māori movement, which saw – along with Te Petihana – the establishment of kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa and Māori broadcasting.

For Ria-āio and the other kōhanga tamariki, Hiakita said it was an exciting moment to meet others supportive of their language.

Former “radicals” were welcomed to Parliament, 50 years after bringing Te Petihana to the Government.

“Even as we walked through the gate, you could see so many people were happy to see kōhanga kids, music and everything here in support of te reo,” she said.

Many schools, English and Māori-medium, attended the event. Some students from nearby colleges may have been late to their afternoon classes, as they waited for Ruha to perform … and were then offered hāngi at the hākari (celebratory feast).

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson with her dad, Rawiri Paratene, who was an original member of Ngā Tamatoa.

The melding of generations was proof of how far te reo Māori has come.

Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson, who is the nephew of Ngā Tamatoa founder Syd Jackson, thanked his uncle’s generation for stepping in just in time to save te reo. They were of a generation who were some of the first to grow up without their indigenous language. He said their activism came with great personal cost but had paid off for their mokopuna.

“We must akiaki [encourage] our people. We must bring them along. There is real language trauma and sometimes people need time to heal. Kei te pai,” he said.

“If you keep whakahē whakahē, criticising our people, they may stop speaking Māori.”

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, a niece of Hana Te Hemara – who, at 22, led Te Petihana to Parliament – delivered an emotional speech to conclude the formalities, eliciting powerful haka and karanga in response.

Maipi-Clarke, who is 19 years old, presented a taonga to the Government on behalf of her tūpuna and kaumātua who had lived through racism and had their language taken from them.

“This was for my nana Eileen, who came into debt through her student loan to learn her language she once lost. This is for my nanny Ranini, who was ashamed as a little girl of her name,” she said.

Some original members of both Ngā Tamatoa and the Reo Māori Society, who joined together in the 1970s to advocate for te reo Māori, attended the anniversary celebration in Wellington.

Former “radicals” such as Rawiri Paratene and Tame Iti, noted the markedly different welcome te reo was receiving at Parliament 50 years after they first arrived with Te Petihana.

They had both been vocal advocates for Māori rights through the 1970s, often causing a stir with their elders and mainstream Pākehā.

But on Wednesday, Government ministers thanked Iti for his “radical” activism. And Paratene, who sat with his daughter, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, during the ceremony, was invited to eat hāngi on the marble steps of Parliament House.

In 1972, Iti and Paratene joined Syd Jackson and Hana Te Hemara in presenting a petition of 30,000 names – with mostly non-Māori signatories – calling for te reo Māori to be offered to all school children.

Their activism is credited for pushing governments to better recognise te reo. Fifteen years after their petition, Parliament made te reo an official language through the passing of the Māori Language Act.