Ko Te Reo Kia Rere
A Day in Rangita¯ ne Square to celebrate Reo Ma¯ ori week
Apiapi katoa a te Pokapu¯ o Rangita¯ne i te tini patere i te Ra¯hina 12 o Mahuru — kauma¯ tua mai, pakeke mai, tamariki mai. Mo¯ te aha? Mo¯ Te Wiki o te Reo Ma¯ori. Hei aha? Hei to¯to¯, hei kumekume i te marea ki raro i te maru o te Reo Ma¯ori — koia te¯tahi o nga¯ reo a¯-ture e rua o Aotearoa nei (ko te Reo Ma¯ori te¯tahi, ko te Reo Rotarota te¯tahi).
He mea whakarite te¯nei hinonga e Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne. Ko te¯tahi kaupapa matua e whakaritea ana, e tukuna ana e Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne, ko te Reo Ma¯ori. A¯, ko te hinonga, i tu¯ ki te Pokapu¯ o Rangita¯ne i te¯ra¯ Ra¯hina, te¯tahi hinonga o nga¯ kaupapa Reo Ma¯ori a Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne.
Ka peka mai ko Te Ko¯hanga Reo o Kaitoki me te whare ko¯ hungahunga o First Years Preschool. Whaihoki, ka piri mai a Te Kura Kaupapa Ma¯ori (TKKM) o Tamaki Nui A Rua . Hiamo katoa te marea i nga¯ mahi haka a TKKM o Tamaki Nui A Rua! Ka¯tahi te whakarekareka!
Hei whakatenatena i te whakamahinga o te Reo Ma¯ori, he paku ke¯mu, he paku whakataetae i tukuna auautia i te rangi nei. Pe¯nei i te ‘Haimona K¯ı’, i te ‘Pu¯kana’, i te ‘ko¯rero noa i te Reo Ma¯ori’. Ina¯ te wairua whakataetae o nga¯ tamariki!
Ka waima¯rie te hinonga nei i te piringa mai a e¯ tahi toa hei tautoko atu, hei tautoko mai. Ko ta¯ Hinetewhiurangi Kani, he whakamo¯hiohio mo¯ te mate pukupuku i te whe¯kau. Ko ta¯ Renee he ka¯kahu. Ko ta¯ Maria, he rongoa¯ Ma¯ori. Ko ta¯ Te Kete Hauora, to¯ ma¯tou a¯piti, he pu¯hera no¯ Wha¯nau Ora,
He a¯ heinga ma¯ tuatua hoki te¯ nei ra¯ mo¯ te whakarewatanga o te pukapuka ko Te Wa¯nanga Matariki.
He mea ta¯ e Morepork Mountain Trust. He pukapuka a Te Wa¯nanga Matariki e kohi ana i e¯tahi waiata, i e¯ tahi tangi, i e¯ tahi ruri na¯ e¯ tahi kaituhi, na¯ e¯tahi kaitito tokomaha.
He kaupapa te¯nei i t¯ımata i te tau 2016 i runga i te p¯ırangi ki te¯tahi rauemi tuhinga, ki te¯tahi kohinga ko¯rero no¯ te takiwa¯ tonu o Tamaki nui-a¯ -Rua.
Ko Te Wa¯nanga Matariki te tuatorutanga o nga¯ raupapa kohikohinga. Na¯ Manahi Paewai ano¯ te karakia i taki mo¯ te whakarewatanga o te¯nei pukapuka.
E ai ki nga¯ tatauranga, e 4.7% o nga¯ tangata e noho nei ki Tamaki nuia¯-Rua e ko¯rero ana i te Reo Ma¯ori. E ao ia, ko te a¯hua nei, he nui ake taua o¯rau i te rerenga o te Reo Ma¯ori ki te Pokapu¯ o Rangita¯ne i te¯ra¯ Ra¯hina.
Ko ta¯ Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne ki te katoa o Tamaki nui-a¯-Rua hei whakakapi, hei whakatenatena hoki i a ta¯tou katoa, ko nga¯ kupu a Nanny Noa: “Ka k¯ı te nga¯kau ina e a¯hei ana te ko¯rero ki nga¯ ta¯ngata katoa i te Reo Ma¯ori i nga¯ wa¯ katoa ahakoa ko wai.”
Rangita¯ne Square was beaming with people from all ages on Monday, September 12. For what exactly? For Ma¯ori Language Week. What was the purpose?
To bring together people under the mantle of Reo Ma¯ori — one of the two official languages of Aotearoa New Zealand (one being Reo Ma¯ori, the other being New Zealand sign language).
This event was organised by Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne.
One of the main initiatives that is organised and implemented by Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne, is Reo Ma¯ori.
The event that was held at Rangita¯ ne Square was one event of Reo Ma¯ori initiatives of Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne.
Te Ko¯hanga Reo o Kaitoki and the
early childhood centre, First Years Preschool, joined in the event. Also, Te Kura Kaupapa Ma¯ ori (TKKM) o Tamaki Nui A Rua joined us.
The crowd was certainly blown away by the performance by TKKM o Tamaki Nui A Rua. What a crowdpleaser they were!
To encourage the usage of Reo Ma¯ori, little competitions ran throughout the day.
For example, ‘Simon says’, ‘Pu¯ kana’, and unprompted conversations in Reo Ma¯ori. What competitive souls our children have!
This event was fortunate with some stalls joining to support the kaupapa and vice versa.
Hinetewhiurangi Kani had an information stall about bowel cancer. Renee Berryman had a clothes stall. Maria Rahui had a rongoa¯ stall.
Our friends at Te Kete Hauora had a stall with packages from Wha¯nau Ora.
This was an opportunity also for the launching of the book Te Wa¯nanga o Matariki.
Published by Morepork Mountain Trust, Te Wa¯nanga o Matariki is a collection of waiata, laments, poetry, and stories from many writers and composers.
It is a project that commenced in 2016 from a desire for more written resources and for a collection of stories from within the district of Tamaki nuia¯-Rua itself.
Te Wa¯nanga Matariki is the third in a series of collections.
Manahi Paewai conducted the karakia for the book launch.
According to statistics, 4.7 per cent of the population that reside in Tamaki nui-a¯-Rua speak Reo Ma¯ori.
But, as it seems, that percentage was much greater given the use of Reo Ma¯ori was heard at Rangita¯ne Square on the day.
To conclude, Te Whare Taiao o Rangita¯ne encourages and invites everyone to be motivated with a quote from the late Nanny Noa: “I will be delighted when I am able to talk to everyone in the Ma¯ori language, all the time, and no matter who.”