A step forward for te reo in mainstream media
E ngākau reka ana ngā mātanga reo Māori i te waihapenga i te reo ki te arapāho auraki nō tā Puna huri ki ngā pānui reo Māori, reorua hoki.
Reo Māori experts are glad to see the return of the language to mainstream media following Stuff’s shift to reo Māori and bilingual articles.
I runga anō i te whakaaro kia whakamanahia te iwi Māori, kua whāia e Puna tana kaiwhakamāori pūmau tuatahi, Taurapa, i te Hūrae. He mea e tautokona ai te whakarauoratanga i te reo puta noa i ngā pae a te umanga.
In the spirit of partnership and in keeping with its commitment to Māori, Stuff hired its first fulltime reo Māori translator, Taurapa, in July to support language revitalisation and normalisation across the company’s platforms.
Ka whakamāori a Taurapa (Te Rarawa) i ngā pūrongo nō ngā tini horopaki, mai i te ao Māori ki ngā pānui ohotata, tae rā anō hoki ki ngā wāhi tare whakangahau.
Taurapa (Te Rarawa) translates a number of stories daily across many genres from te ao Māori, hard-hitting breaking news to lighter entertainment pieces.
He honongaitua tō ngā pūrongo e oti ai i te kaipānui te kōwhiri i temomo reo Pākehā, te momo reo Māori rānei. Ki ngā whakamāoritanga, kua whai ia kōwae reo Māori ki tana whakapākehātanga, nā konā e oti i tētahi e ako ana i te reo kia whakatauritehia ngā reo e rua, tā Taurapa.
The translated stories contain a link that allows the reader to choose between the English version or te reo Māori translation. In the translated stories, each paragraph in te reo is followed by its English counterpart so those who are on their reo journey can compare the two, Taurapa said.
I tupu a Taurapa ki te kura kaupapa Māori, nā reira i hari ia i te kitenga i te reo Māori ki tētahi pae auraki, he wheako hōu, hei tāna.
Growing up in a Māorimedium school, Taurapa was glad to see te reo Māori on amainstream platform, something he said was a new experience.
‘‘Mōku ake, e kōingo ana [a Puna] kia noho māori mai te reo Māori ki te arapāho auraki,’’ hei tāna.
‘‘I think that [Stuff] very much want te reo to have a normal presence in mainstream media,’’ he said.
‘‘E roa ana te ara ki mua i te aroaro, he uaua nō te tutuki i ngā mahi pena te tangata kotahi, kāore pea au e whakamāori koni atu i te 1% o ngā pānui ka whakaputaina i ia rā, nā reira whakaarohia te pānga pena kua tokorua māua.’’
‘‘We have a long way to go because it’s really hard to do that with just one person, I don’t think I translate more than 1% of the articles we put out a day, so imagine the impact we could have if we could have two people doing that.’’
Hei tā te tohunga wetereo, te koikōkiri reo Māori ki Whakaata Māori, Tākuta Hinurewa Poutu, kua roa nei mātou e tāria ana te waihapenga i te reo Māori ki ngā pānui auraki.
Reo Māori linguist and kaikōkiri reo, director of te reo Māori for Whakaata Māori Dr Hinurewa Poutu said the return for reo Māori to mainstream news was long overdue.
I tupu a Poutu (Ngāti Rangi, Te ti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Maniapoto) i te ururuatanga o te reo Māori, te kōrero, te pānui, me te tuhi i te reo Māori, nā reira kua hiamo i te kitenga i tā Puna hūnuku ki te whakaputa i te reo Māori, hei tāna.
Poutu (Ngāti Rangi, Te ti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Maniapoto) grew up speaking, reading and writing in te reo Māori, so to see Stuff shift towards publishing in te reo was exciting, she said.
‘‘Ehara ngā pānui reo Māori o ia rā i te mea hōu, anā, tērā tētahi wā i koni atu i te 40 ngā niupepa i whakaputaina ki te reo Māori.
‘‘Having daily news written text in te reo Māori is not new, in fact there was a time when there were more than 40 newspapers published in te reo Māori.
Kua rawe te kitenga i te hokinga mai o te kupu Māori ki ngā whakaputanga, ngā niupepa, me ngā pānui o ia rā.
‘‘It’s great to see te reo Māori return to periodicals, newspapers and daily news through text.
‘‘Ko te reo taketake o tō tātou motu, nā reira e rāhiri ana i te hurihanga, ā, e miha ana i [a Puna] i tēnā, me te manako ka pēnā tonu.’’
‘‘It’s the indigenous language of our nation, so I welcome the move and commend [Stuff] for it and hope that it continues.’’
Hei tā te Ahorangi Tautoko ki Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, te Pūkenga, Hone Morris (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tūhoe, Rongowhakaata) kua rawe te kitenga i te tūmatarau me te rerehua o te reo Māori ki ngā arapāho auraki.
Massey University Associate Professor, Senior Scholar, Hone Morris (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tūhoe, Rongowhakaata) said it was great to see the magic and beauty of te reo Māori in mainstream media.
Ko te manako, mā te whakawātea mai me te kore kapatau atu e whakangāwari ake ai ngā tāngata e horokukū ana i te nekehanga kia whakamāorihia te reo Māori.
He hoped that making it more accessible in a non-threatening way would help drop the guards of those who were resistant to the shift towards normalising te reo Māori.
‘‘E paruhi ana ā ngā tāngata kitenga i te reo Māori ki ngā whakaputanga auraki.
‘‘That’s great that people get to see te reo Māori in mainstream publications.
‘‘Ina kaha ake te kitenga i te reo Māori, ka māori ake, ā, ahakoa he wero ki ētahi, he tokomaha tonu e whakanui ana i te nekehanga.’’
‘‘The more we see te reo Māori, the more it becomes normalised and, although some people find change a challenge, there are more and more people who are embracing change.’’
Hei tā te toihau o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins, he mea nui te whakaputanga i te reo Māori ki Puna.
Te Tuara Whiri i te Reo Māori chairperson Professor Rawinia Higgins said it was huge that Māori language was being published on Stuff.
‘‘Ko te arapāho te kūaha ki te ngākau o te motu, ā, me reorua ā mātou kōrero.’’
‘‘The media reflects who we are as a nation and our stories need to be told in both our languages.
Mā te whāngai i ngā ihirangi reo Māori i ēnei kōrero e tuwhera mai ai tō mātou ao Maori, me ō mātou ao.
‘‘Providing Māori language content in these stories opens up a different insight into our Māori world and our lives.
‘‘E whakamāori ana i tō tātou reo, waihoki ō mātou iwi, ki konei, ki tō tātou whenua.’’
‘‘It normalises not just our language but our people, here in the country we come from.’’
Hei tā Puna Pou Tiaki matua, Carmen Parahi, he mea māori katoa te hūnuku ki ngā kōrero reo Maori i te anga a te umanga ki te whakamāoritanga i te reo me te ao Māori.
For Stuff’s Pou Tiaki matua Carmen Parahi, the move towards reo Māori stories was a natural step given the company’s commitment to normalising te reo and te ao Māori.
‘‘Ko tā mātou kaupapa ki Puna he pēnei, kia tupu te māia o te katoa e whakaputa ai te reo Māori i ngā wā katoa, ki ngā wāhi katoa.’’
‘‘Our kaupapa at Stuff really is, kia tupu te māia o te katoa e whakaputa ai te reo Māori i ngā wā katoa, ki ngā wāhi katoa.
‘‘E hiahia ana mātou kia whanake i te māia a te katoa i Puna, me ngā kairīpoata, waihoki te katoa o te motu, kia tukuna te reo Māori kia rere i ia rā, ahakoa te wāhi.
‘‘We want to be able to help build confidence in everyone at Stuff and our reporters, but also everyone else in Aotearoa to use te reo Māori every day and everywhere.
‘‘Ka whanake tonu mātou i te rahinga o te reo Māori ā tōnawā, heoti ko te whāinga kia pāwhiria tētahi pātene ki te paetukutuku, kia hurihia te katoa o te pae kia reo Māori.’’
‘‘We will continue to develop how much Māori language we have in time, but our vision is, you will click a button on our website and the whole website will translate into te reo Māori.’’