Youth impress at manu ko¯ rero
Sixty young Ma¯ori orators are doing their best to impress at the nga¯ manu ko¯rero national secondary school speech competition in Palmerston North.
The two-day competition started at the Regent on Broadway yesterday with 15 regions represented.
The senior English and Ma¯ori impromptu and planned sections were on yesterday and each student took their turn for karanga, whaiko¯rero and waiata.
Four Manawatu¯ students qualified for the national finals: the Manukura trio of Hinewai Netanawilliams, Shaye Witehira and Pounamu Wharehinga, as well as Waiatatia Ratana-karehana, from Rangit¯ıkei College.
Witehira and Netana-williams spoke in the senior competition.
Netana-williams, 17, spoke in Ma¯ori and she said she talked about old protocols people follow.
She also did her impromptu speech first, where she had five minutes to prepare. The topic she chose was: What is done has been done and we can’t go back, but we can do stuff for the future.
Witehira, who won the Manawatu¯ competition, spoke in English about the Christchurch mosque shooting and similarities between how ethnic minorities, including Ma¯ori, had been treated.
Nick Fonotoe, chairman of host committee Manawatu¯ Horowhenua Ma¯ori Teachers, said the contestants spoke well.
He said holding the competition during Ma¯ori Language Week highlighted the competition’s role as a beacon of Ma¯ori language revitalisation and a measure of how far te reo had developed in the past 20 years.
‘‘There is a strong sense of urgency within our communities to protect our indigenous Ma¯ori language and this commitment to ensure te reo Ma¯ori survives as a living, spoken and dynamic treasure is captured within the essence of nga¯ manu ko¯rero.’’
Ten topics were given to speakers in each section.
Twelve minutes are allocated to Ma¯ori speakers and six minutes for English speakers.
The junior English and junior Ma¯ori competitions are on today.