I decided to learn te reo Māori because I am a reporter and I want to be able to tell the stories of Māori in their voice.
A great example of this is Cyclone Gabrielle, where many hard-hit communities such as Ōmāhu and Mōteo marae were largely Māori communities.
Those stories are not over, with marae still sheltering whānau displaced by the cyclone months on and temporary houses being built at Ōmāhu marae.
Like many of my generation, I was exposed to te reo Māori in school in brief intervals as part of the curriculum, but I did not retain a lot besides basic greetings and phrases.
However, the growing presence of te reo in media and everyday language has helped me build a small bank of words.
It was a start, but I had a long way to go before I could confidently kōrero te reo let alone bring out a full sentence in front of someone else.
Luckily, an opportunity to learn came to me two months ago.
To Te Kewena White (Ngāi Tūhoe), thank you for offering to teach me. Kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi.
Now I am building on my pepeha (introductions), learning tikanga (customs, culture), phrases and pronunciation.
Since I told White about my Ngāti Porou whānau he now teaches me Ngāti Porou words.
One day I hope to become fluent enough to have the confidence to hold a conversation with my Ngāti Porou whānau.
Eventually, I hope to be able to interview in te reo māori and even translate stories into it.
No reira (therefore), huri, huri, huri (turning to everybody).
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
