He has an unapologetic pursuit of excellence and any student who has ever learned under his tutelage would testify to this. Despite being in his mid-80s, Tīmoti is still a teacher at the kura where students learn from 7am in the morning until the wee hours of the night.
Many of the other language greats who once taught alongside Tīmoti are no longer with us, including the late Mate Kaiwai, Ngāhinatūrae Te Uira, Tā Kīngi Īhaka, Mātene Ruawai, Wiha Te Raki Hawea, Mīria Simpson, Dr. Wharehuia Milroy and Materoa Haenga.
Tīmoti remains the veteran tutor, which is a very demanding task when teaching students of various levels of proficiency.
Waimārama Marae has been fortunate to have hosted this kura since its establishment there 34 years ago. It has been the catalyst of change for the humble population of the coastal settlement.
The Māori language was all but lost in many families, however, through a concerted effort many of the younger generations have made significant efforts to reclaim their language and are proficient speakers.
The marae launched its language revitalisation plan back in 2002 and 21 years later the proof is in the pudding.
Our current iwi chairman, Bayden Barber, is a shining example of the success of the marae’s strategy.
Despite his various commitments as chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated, he is cognisant of the need to continually improve as a speaker of the language.
He has attended this kura as a student to continually improve his fluency. He is a great example of the need for us all to never be complacent and continually strive to be better and do our bit to ensure the survival of the language.
Every year, in the second week of the new year, the Waimārama people muster together to host the kura reo. The kura was hosted at Waimārama Marae for the first 18 years. Unfortunately, the kura outgrew the marae and it was needed to be brought into town due to the lack of modern facilities at the marae to meet the needs of students of this age.
The kura was hosted at EIT Hawke’s Bay, then by Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ara Hou before returning to Waimārama for a year and then back to EIT this year.
The founder, Tīmoti, has made the decision that the kura will now be hosted at EIT Hawke’s Bay for an array of reasons, namely the outstanding facilities of the Te Ara o Tāwhaki Marae complex that enable us to house the students and have access to all the modern facilities that many of today’s teachers require. It also means the kura won’t be affected by adverse weather like what we have witnessed so far this year.
The kura is extremely lucky to enlist the likes of Pānia Papa, Leon Blake and Te Haumihiata Mason who join Tīmoti as the teaching panel.
Students learn a variety of facets of the language over the five days. Students are also able to connect with other learners of the language and many have developed friendships through this association.
Kura reo has grown exponentially with four national kura hosted throughout the year as well as several tribal-run kura reo including Te Kura Reo o Ngāti Kahungunu founded in 2013.
One must marvel at the steadfast commitment of Tīmoti who, despite being well into his retirement, remains at the helm of language revitalisation and continues to disperse his knowledge to students willing and committed to learn.
