Māori did not have the written word and communicated through symbolism.
The detailing in carvings, knots and weavings were the way Māori recorded stories, while traditional songs and dances shared the myths and folklore of their ancestors.
Bernie O’Donnell, a former cultural advisor for the University of Auckland and a former Manukau Urban Māori Authority chairman, has been called back to work for his iwi – doing his tūpuna’s mahi in Taranaki.
This week is an opportunity to take stock of the language, from where it was 30 years ago to where it is now – and where we need it to go.
But there are challenges around normalising te reo Māori that can be quite confronting for us speakers.
There’s a feeling that accessibility of the Māori language is right out there and it’s all too easy; that there’s a feeling of entitlement – this next generation are entitled because the Māori language has been handed to them on a plate.
Ironically that is always what we wanted to do and celebrate, because to go from nothing – where the Māori language was at one time, especially when our parents were beaten for speaking it in Pākehā schools – to now, where these kura kids (schoolchildren) speak it unapologetically.
Te Pati Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke is the new face for Waikato-Tainui leadership. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Normalising Māori language can be confronting for some of us when we see non-Māori singing our songs and saying our karakia.
On one hand, that’s a great thing but on the other, “hold on” – that is a new space for us to come to grips with, as to how we are sharing the language.
All I’m saying is yes, the language has progressed to an amazing place but starting to share our language with non-Māori – which has to happen – is not without its own fishhook.
The new Māori Queen, Nga wai hono i te po.
If we give away all our IP, like our language, then what does that leave us with?
The trade-off is we have to give up some of our taonga (treasures) and be prepared for it.
One other aspect is just how this generation of kōhanga reo and kura kids from the likes of Hoani Waititi are taking us places we have never been before.
The leadership of Kōhanga Reo had this dream and vision that the language would be kept safe within the Kōhanga movement, which is now 40+ years on and it continues to resonate.
Back in my era, and that of many of us, our issue was self-esteem. As Māori, we had no self-esteem and struggled with a world that wasn’t ours – and inevitably failed miserably. But this new generation are unapologetically Māori and know who they are.
Māori advocate Bernie O'Donnell has returned to his Taranaki home to support his iwi.
We need to continue to celebrate that and that is seen with our new Queen, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, and Hauraki-Waikato MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. Those two are the new leadership for Tainui and are both products of the Kōhanga movement.
