Te Wānanga - 1878

I mua ai he taunu tonu te mahi a Te Wānanga ki tō mātou reo Māori, me te kī mai kia tahuri mātou ki te ako reo mā mātou; nō konei ka pānuitia atu tēnei kōrero kei raro iho nei, he mea tango mai nā mātou i roto i te Akarana Wikiri Niuhi (nūpepa Pākehā), kia mōhiotia ai hoki pea te whakaaro o te tāngata Māori mō taua mea, inā hoki taua kōrero nā.

Kua tae mai ki a mātou (arā, ki taua nūpepa) tētahi reta nā Porikapa Makuku, o te wahapū o Waikato, mō te reo o Te Wānanga, ā, kua whakapākehātia atu nei e mātou taua reta. E kore mātou e mōhio ki te "whakapuaki kupu mō taua mea, engari e rongo ana mātou ko Te Waiti te tāngata whakamāori i ngā kōrero i roto i Te Wānanga ā, e kīia ana ko ia tētahi o ngā tāngata mōhio rawa, o te motu katoa nei, ki te reo Māori. Koia tēnei taua reta, arā, me pānui e koe ēnei kupu āku ki roto ki tō nūpepa, nō te mea he mea nui ia; arā ko tētahi Perehi Māori, ko Te Wānanga tōna ingoa, e kīia ana nā ētahi Māori taua perehi, e whakahīhī ana ki tōna reo Māori, e mea ana, kei a ia te reo Māori tika rawa. I te tau 1875 taku kitenga tuatahi i taua nūpepa. I whakaaro au i reira ai, kāore pea ngā Māori e mōhio ana ki te mahi nūpepa, nō reira ka poka kē te reo. Te kupu Māori mō taua tū reo, 'he reo āwhio haere i te motu.' I te tau 1877, ka kite au i te ingoa o te ētita o taua nūpepa, he Pākehā ia. Nō konei pea i poka kē ai tōna reo i te tino reo tika rawa o te Māori. Tāna mahi tonu, a taua ētita, he whakahē ki ngā whakamāoritanga kōrero a Te Kāwanatanga. Otirā, kāore e tika te reo o Te Wānanga e tangohia ana ētahi kupu kē hei tīmatanga mō ētahi atu kupu. Kei te kōrero e 250 ai ngā kupu a Te Wānanga, me he mea he reo Māori tika kua mārama te tikanga o taua kōrero i te 200 tonu kupu. Nā, ka 50 ngā kupu āmiki noa a Te Wānanga. Ehara i te reo nō Ngāpuhi, me titiro hoki ki te whakamāoritanga o te Karaipiture. Ehara hoki i te reo o te iwi nāna taua Perehi, nō te mea kāore e whakahuatia ana te kupu hika nei. Ehara anō hoki i te reo o Waikato. E mea ana āhau me titiro Te Wānanga ki te reo o tōna tūpuna, o Te Waka Māori, hei reo māna ; ko tōna reo āwhiowhio me tanu ki roto i te rua o te whēkau nui o Tai. Ehara tāku i te kī kia tango ia i te tikanga o Te Waka Māori me waiho tēnā i te korokoro o te moana.

Nā Porikapa te Makuku, Wahapū o Waikato, Ākuhata 28, 1878.

 

I ahu mai i: Waka Maori, Volume I, Issue 4, 2 October 1878, Page 54