Ko te ‘Aotearoatanga’ o te reo

Ko Kylie Brown rātou ko Peter-Lucas Jones, ko Renee Graham, ko Mike Nathan. (Nā Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori tēnei whakaahua).

 

He ao te rangi ka uhia, āhea rawa rā te reo rangatira taipua anō ai i ngā maunga whakahī o te motu? 

Kua roa nei tātou e tatari ana ki tā te reo Māori hokinga mai ki te arero o te tangata, e tā, tino kore nei ia e hoki poka noa mai.  E māori ai te reo Māori, me aha?  E pai ake ai ngā mahi a māmā mā me papa mā i ō tātou kāinga, me whakarite, me hāpai te Karauna i ngā wāhi tūmatanui kia mānawatia ai te reo, kia māori ai te rongo o te reo ki waho rā i ō rātou whare.  Koia rā te wāhi ki te Maihi Karauna, ā, ko te Manatū Taonga tēnei e whai ana kia hāpai i te wāhi ki a ia, i tā te Maihi Karauna i whakatau ai.

Arā noa atu ngā pito o te motu me ū ki ngā mahi whakarauora reo, heoi, ko tētahi wāhi ki te Manatū ko te ‘Aotearoatanga’ o te reo.  Taihoa kia whakamahuki ake.  E mōhio whānuitia ana, i ahu mai ai ēnei haepapa o te reo Māori i tō tātou tiriti, otirā, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, engari, kāore anō pea kia whakatinanahia ake.

Nō nā tata nei i waihangahia mai ai e Te Manatū Taonga tētahi tohu hou i roto i Ngā Tohu Reo Māori o Te Taura Whiri.  Ko tāna, he whakanui i ngā mahi whakarauora reo a te pāpori whānui o te motu.  Tapaina ana te tohu nei, ko ‘Aotearoatanga’.  I whakawhiwhia Te Hiku Media ki te tohu Aotearoatanga i tēnei tau mō ā rātou mahi whakaako i te rorohiko kia kōrero Māori ai.

Ko Aotearoatanga tētahi o ā te Karauna whāinga matua i roto i te rautaki o te Maihi Karauna, ‘Kia Māhorahora Te Reo’.  Ko tētahi o te whāinga nei mata, “kia kaingākautia te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori e Aotearoa whānui, kia noho hoki ko te reo Māori hei wāhanga matua mō te tuakiritanga ā-motu”, arā he whakatipu i te aroha o Aotearoa ki tōna reo Māori, he whakaū hoki i tērā reo ki te tuakiri o te motu. Ā, he mea nui hoki kia whakatauira atu tēnei i ā te kāwanatanga mahi.[1]  Koirā pea te ahunga mai o te whakaaro kia waihanga mai i tēnei tohu.

Anei ngā raraunga o nāianei:[2]

Ko te 49 ōrau o ngā pakeke o Aotearoa e whakaae ana, e tino whakaae ana rānei kia “whakatenatena, kia tautoko hoki te kāwanatanga i te whakamahi o te reo Māori i ngā horopaki o ia rā”.

Ko te 35 ōrau o ngā pakeke o Aotearoa e whakaae ana, e tino whakaae ana rānei “ka pai mehemea ka kōrero Māori, ka kōrero Pākehā hoki ngā tāngata e noho ana ki Aotearoa”.

Ko te 45 ōrau o ngā pakeke o Aotearoa e whakaae ana, e tino whakaae ana rānei kia “reo Māori, kia reo Pākehā hoki ngā pānui”.

Ā, he nui tonu ngā mahi kei mua i te aroaro, heoi anō tā te Manatū Taonga, he whakapiki i ēnei raraunga, he whakatahuri mai i te marea kia ngākaunui ai ki tō tātou taonga, ki tō tātou reo rangatira.  Anei ētahi o ā te Manatū mahi kua mutu kē te whakarite mai, arā ko Te Tai Whakaea, ko Tuia 250.  Tēnā, e hoa mā, e tae ngākau titikaha atu ai ki te anamata me whakaū i te reo Māori ki ngā wāhi tūmatanui, koia rā ko te hononga tangata.  Tēnā, hoake tātou.

 



[1] Maihi Karauna: the Crown’s Strategy for Māori Language Revitalisation, 2018–2023.

[2] Statistics New Zealand, General Social Survey 2016.