Building a bridge between worlds
Hohepa Te Moana is used to swinging between two worlds – the one in which te reo Ma¯ ori is spoken, and the other, English.
Now, the man who spent his early school years at New Plymouth’s Te Pihipihinga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea kura kaupapa Ma¯ori and the latter at Francis Douglas Memorial College, has found he has become a bit of a language link for others.
‘‘I’ve always been a bridge between two worlds – those being Ma¯ ori and non Ma¯ ori,’’ he said.
‘‘I always get people with great reo but not great English asking for help with the English language, and I also get people wanting help with their te reo because that needs some touching up too.’’
Last year, to celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Ma¯ ori, the 30-year-old began making one-minute videos for every day of the week, sharing pointers on how to speak the country’s indigenous language.
The videos, which garnered hundreds of views on social media, were inspired by Te Moana wanting to make te reo Ma¯ ori less intimidating for people.
Describing his own approach to the language as relaxed and informal, he last year focused the digital series on the General Election.
‘‘I try to be topical.
‘‘For example last year I used the word Po¯ ti as a focal point.
‘‘Po¯ ti (pronounced Pour Tea) is Ma¯ ori for ‘vote’ and with last year’s election it was super relevant.’’
During the video, Te Moana performed the action of pouring tea as a means to explain the pronunciation, which later revealed how farreaching his videos had become.
‘‘I remember sitting at a cafe and seeing a stranger gesture to me pouring a tea.
‘‘Then after my meal she said she’d seen my video and gone to vote that morning which was pretty cool.’’
This year, Te Moana, who worked as a host at a local Ma¯ ori radio station for eight years, has focused on mental health.
‘‘So far, this year the videos have been related to checking on how someone is and asking if they’re OK.
‘‘Mental health is a big discussion in New Zealand at the moment so I feel like I’ve naturally started slanting this year’s series that way.
Te Moana, who has whakapapa links to Te Wha¯ nau-a-Apanui and Nga¯ puhi, doesn’t consider himself an expert in the language.
But he’s happy to share what he knows, and to keep it fun while doing so.
‘‘My little one-minute videos are just here to build that bridge so we can meet in the middle.’’