Event hails te reo revitalisation
When Tia Hunt and his partner Hinepounamu Apanui-Barr learned they were expecting their first child, there was no discussion about what language their pēpi would grow up with.
They both knew their son would be raised in te reo Māori.
“Because of the privilege we had been given with our parents sacrificing a lot for us to be raised in te reo, we knew that we would be doing this for him and for future generations, because it is something that has been lost for both of our whānau for a very long time,” said Apanui-Barr.
The couple shared their story on the rewards and challenges of raising two-yearold Pari Turanga in te reo Māori during a workshop at Terea Te Waka, a two day conference held in Ōtautahi/Christchurch over the weekend. The conference brought together hundreds of te reo speakers to hear from those leading the language’s revitalisation about strategies and initiatives to boost the use of te reo in Te Waipounamu/the South Island.
Hunt and Apanui-Barr were both fortunate to have learned te reo growing up. They acknowledge not all Māori had the same privilege.
Apanui-Barr was brought up in a predominantly te reo speaking household, while Hunt was schooled in Māori medium from the age of five even though most of his whānau did not speak the language. “I was the only one in my whānau that went to kura kaupapa, so it was a really special thing for me and I was really privileged.”
Being able to speak te reo was always important to him, said Hunt. He felt a duty to speak the language that his kaumātua could not speak freely. “It is intrinsically who I am.”
Apanui-Barr said growing up she felt she had to be “a cultural chameleon”, constantly bridging the gap between the English and te reo Māori worlds. She hopes it will be different for Pari Turanga, that he would be able to thrive without feeling the need to change who he is. They are mindful of the reality that Pari Turanga “doesn’t live in a bubble” and will have to speak English as he grows up. “But within the four walls of our house we use Māori.”
Apanui-Barr says growing up in te reo gave her “an unwavering sense of identity” and a foundation through which she viewed the entire world. “It is a key way of understanding our Māori worldview, our environment and our tikanga.”
They felt positive about the future for te reo Māori speakers and said there was a general sense of Aotearoa becoming more embracing of te reo Māori and te ao Māori.
“Being te reo Māori speakers bringing our baby up in te reo is probably still something that is a little bit unique, but I think most of our friends who are having babies are making an effort to learn te reo alongside their babies if they can’t speak it already,” said Apanui-Barr.
“I really hope [Pari] will grow up in an Aotearoa where te reo is spoken everywhere and he can go about his life seeing himself in spaces that we never saw ourselves in growing up.”
Board Member of Te Mātāwai and Kotahi Mano Kāika manager Paulette Tamati-Elliffe (Kāi Te Pahi, Kāi Te Ruahikihiki – Ōtākou, Te Atiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) says the revitalisation of te reo Māori is not just about preserving a language.
“[Māori] is more than just a language. It is a worldview, it’s a way of living. It comes with its own values, beliefs, traditions. For those who haven’t learned te reo Māori, it is not just a simple matter of learning a new language, it is about understanding new perspectives. And for those of us with ancestry, it is a way of connecting back to our whakapapa and those traditional knowledge systems.”
Tamati-Elliffe said she felt positive about the growth of te reo Māori. “You can hear the language, you see it in people’s homes, in the community. Twenty years ago, you would not have seen a big corporate supermarket supporting te reo Māori, but today it is there. Now we have Te Mātāwai which is enabling iwi Māori to dream and to create and to grow their own initiatives.”
She acknowledged there was still a lot of work to be done – with a lack of funding being a key challenge – but she believes Aoteoroa is on the right track.
Events like Terea Te Waka bring together people who drive the revitalisation of te reo Māori as an intergenerational living language, and creates a space where te reo Māori and its growth can be celebrated. But these spaces were still “artificial” in a sense, said Tamati-Elliffe, and the aim was for it to be a natural way of life.
“Aotearoa is the only place where te reo Māori belongs. If we lose it, then we lose that way of thinking, our identity, our connection to this environment. We have to protect it.”