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Taihoa e puta ai a Kupu 22 ki te tārouma o Te Rotoruanui-a-Kahu.
He kaupapa whakahirahira. He hui ahurei e whakarākei ana ngā Māori e kaha whiwhita nei ki te tuhituhi pukapuka waihoki he kaupapa tōmuatanga i tā tātou whakanui tuatahitanga i a Matariki hai rangi ōkawa ka tū ā te Pīpiri.
Rokohanga kau te hunga tuhituhi e kanapu kau ana me te hikaka hoki o ngā ngākau hāunga ētehi e wehi iti nei nā te māuiui korona whoi anō kai te mārō te takahanga.
Ko ētehi o ngā mātanga kua whakaae mai ki tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira ko ngā tōtara nui o te wao nui a Tāne pēnei i a Tā Timoti Karetu rātou ko Tā Rangi Mātāmua, ko Alan Duff, ko Ngāhuia Murphy.
Tokotoru ngā manu tūtei ki te pōari o tēnei waka, ko Makoha Gardiner (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Te Arawa). Ko Rangitihi Pene (Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūwharetoa), me Robyn Rangihuia Bargh, (Ngāti Kea, Ngāti Tuarā, Ngāti Awa). I tētehi hui i tū i te wiki ko pahemo mea mai a Makoha ko te pūtake o tēnei waka he tauhohe ki tā Shilo Kino pukapuka ko Te Tamaiti Porangi.
I heke iho a Rangihuia Bargh i tana tūranga pou-whakahaere mā Huia Publishers i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā wha, engari kai te ao tuhituhi me te ao whakaputa pukapuka tonu ōna ringaringa.
Kua hoki mai a Rangihuia Bargh ki tōna ūkaipō ki ngā rekereke o Horohoro kai ngā poari huhua, kai ngā whenua taratī rahi hoki a ia e tū ana.
He tangata tuhituhi mā Huia publisher a Kino. Nāna te tuhinga, Te Tamaiti Porangi, nōna e nonoke ana me tōna ake tautangatatanga – "He āhuatanga nōku i whakaahuangia i te korenga o taku reo, i te korenga o oku whenua me te hunga e kawe nei i ngā kōrerotanga a tātou te Māori ".
"He pukapuka i ahu mai i te rīnoitanga o taku ate, e mamae nui ana, he ahakoa tēnei, e karanga ana te wairua kia mataaho taku tū, e whakahuri ai, e whakawehi ai, e whakamana ai te kaha o tēnei tūāhuatanga ka pā ki a ngai tātou te Māori".
Tūtakarerewā kau tana ngākau i tana whakawhiwhinga ki te tūranga whakahirahira i te tau e rua mano , rua tekau mā tahi, engari anō ko tōna kaha ki te tuku mihi ki te hunga mātakitaki i tana reo whenua tētehi whakamiharotanga mōna.
Kia tāhuri anō ai tātou ki a Rangihuia Bargh me ōna whakaaro, e mea nei, ko te nuinga o te hunga kiritea, āhua pakeke nei e noho nei i Aotearoa e kaha kūware tonu ana ki tā Kino pukapuka me te hohonutanga o tana kaupapa – kūware kau rātou ki tēnei tū āhuatanga e haere ngātahi me te Māori i tēnei whenua tonu.
Nō Ngapuhi me Ngāti Maniapoto a Kino. Kua whakawāteangia e ia ko tōna tinana katoa motuhake kia aro kau atu ki te ako i te reo Māori, nā koia hoki tētehi o ngā pou whakatū kaupapa, Back-to-Kura, he pakihere-rokiroki e hopu ana i tana haerenga.
I pakeke mai ia i Akarana me Waipū, engari hai tāna ko tana aronga ki tōna ao Māori, "he mea kitehanga kau i ōku kanohi ki ngā kaupapa e whakaatuhia ana ki te pouaka whakaata ki te pūrongo kōrero", nō reira tana mōhiohio ki te ao Māori.
"He iwi rāweke tamariki, kēnge, te hunga porotēhi riri ana, ko tēnā kōrero kua tuaruangia kua tuaahangia e te hunga tāmi".
Nā tēnei tuhinga āna i āta whakaarongia e Rangihuia Bargh me pēwhea e whakakaha ake ai, e tika hoki te poipoi ai te hunga Māori e tuhituhi ana. He ahakoa i tū ngā hui tuatahi i te tau ko pahemo ka tūkia ngā hiahia me te kaupapa e te māuiui korona.
E tika ana kia tū tēnei huinga ki te tākere waka. He iwi kaha ki te manaaki he iwi kaha ki te awhina waihoki horapa kau te reo i ngā pari karangaranga o te takiwā nei. Kai te tautokongia te pōari e In books we trust rātou ko McLeods, ko Te Aka Mauri, koia ko wēnei te pākihi matua o te hāpori o Rotorua.
Ka riro mā Rafa Moreira rātou ko Jemma Morrison, ko Gacrielle West, ko Peniel Prabhakaran-Elliott te toa o McLeods e whakakanohi, ka tiakina te pōari matua hoki e rātou. Ko Te Papaiōuru (Ngāti Whakaue, Ohinemutu), rātou ko Tarimano (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Awahou), ko Te Pākira (Whakarewarewa), ko Te Tākinga Marae (Ngāti Pikiao, Mourea) ngā wāhi rangatira e tū ngātahi ai me Te Aka Mauri- Rotorua Library me te toa pukapuka o McLeods.
Ka whakarewangia tēnei kaupapa ā te wāhanga ako o te kura kia whai kaha ai a tātou tamariki kai ngā kura kaupapa Māori me ngā kura auraki te whakawhirinaki atu ki te kaupapa rangatira nei, ā, kia ātawhaingia hoki te hunga tuhituhi e ngākau whiwhita ai ki te mātauranga kōrero pukapuka. Hai te ahiahi tētehi kaupapa mana wahine, ka whakaritea tētehi pae amokura he mātanga katoa ki te kōrero pukapuka, he mōhiohio nō rātou ki ngā nukurautanga katoa o tēnei mahi, whoi anō ka whakatū wānanga ā te mutunga o te wiki.
Kua whakaarongia te hunga kāre e kaha ki te haere a tinana atu ki a Kupu 22, ka tae kē atu a Kupu 22 ki a koe mā te whārangi-ipurangi, mā te pakihere rokiroki me ngā uinga katoa me etehi atu huarahi o te ao hou nei.
Ehara kau i te mea kai te whakamamati kau te huinga rangatira nei, engari rā kai te tino whakaarongia e tātou ko te manaakitanga i a tātou i tēnei wā o te māuiui korona. E mea ana hoki tātou.
E te kāwanatanga - kai te whāia e tātou ngā ture o te hauora ki ngā ture a te kāwanatanga kua whakatakotongia hoki e tātou he rautaki me ka tū anō te ūpoko o te ngārara. Tuatahi rawa ko te oranga o te hāpori me te iwi.
— Na Raimona Inia tenei purongo i whakamaoritia
Kupu 22 will burst onto the scene in Rotorua, celebrating the inaugural Festival of Maori Writers and as a precursor to the first official Matariki holiday in June.
Kupu: Ngā ringa tuhituhi is a festival celebrating Maori writers past, present and future, and events will be held at marae and a number of other venues around Rotorua from June 12 to June 18. The Matariki holiday is Friday, June 24.
The organising committee has no trouble finding writers who are keen to participate although some were cautious because of Covid.
Writers already confirmed for the festival include Sir Timoti Karetū, Dr Rangi Mātāmua, Alan Duff, and Dr Ngāhuia Murphy.
The board leading the project is: Makoha Gardiner (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Te Arawa), Rangitihi Pene (Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūwharetoa), and Robyn Rangihuia Bargh, (Ngāti Kea, Ngāti Tuarā, Ngāti Awa).
At a board meeting last week Makoha said the catalyst for the festival was the reaction to Shilo Kino's The Porangi Boy.
Rangihuia Bargh stepped down from her role as managing director of Huia Publishers in 2014 but remains involved in literature and publishing in a number of ways. She has returned home to Horohoro and sits on a number of boards and land trusts.
Kino, a Huia Publishers writer, wrote The Pōrangi Boy when she was struggling with her own identity – "an identity shaped by the loss of my language, the loss of my whenua and the way our stories have been told through the eyes of non-Māori".
"It was a book born out of deep mamae (hurt) but also with a hope that I could do something to influence, change, inform and empower."
But what surprised Kino even more than winning the award in 2021, was how meaningful it felt to be able to stand up at the awards and kōrero te reo Māori.
But the main point for Rangihuia Barghn was that the white, middle-aged reader had no idea of what Kino's story was about. They could not recognise the Maori experience in Aotearoa.
Kino (Ngapuhi, Ngati Maniapoto) is on a year-long full immersion journey in te reo and is co-making Back to Kura, a podcast that documents her reo journey.
She grew up in Auckland and Waipu and says her Māori identity "was very much shaped by what I saw on the news".
"Child abusers, gang members, angry protesters, the same old narrative told through the lens of the coloniser."
Kino's story got Rangihuia Bargh thinking about how Māori writing could be recognised and encouraged. Meetings started last year but progress had been derailed by Covid shutdowns.
Rotorua seemed the ideal place to start because of our strong whakawhanaungatanga (establishment of relationships), manaaki (duty of care) and awhi (to embrace) and the widespread use of te reo Māori and our connections to our tīpuna.
The board is supported by In books we trust in partnership with McLeods and Te Aka Mauri (Rotorua Library) as the Rotorua local community organisation/business. Rafa Moreira, Jemma Morrison, Gabrielle West and Peniel Prabhakaran-Elliott will represent McLeods and assist the board in any capacity.
Te Papaiōuru (Ngāti Whakaue, Ohinemutu), Tarimano (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Awahou), Te Pākira (Whakarewarewa), Te Tākinga Marae (Ngāti Pikiao, Mourea) are the main venues alongside Te Aka Mauri - Rotorua Library and McLeods Booksellers.
The festival is timed to lift off during the school term so that our mokopuna in kura kaupapa Māori and the local high schools will be well integrated into the large scale events with the goal of supporting new and upcoming writers and promoting the mātauranga of reading and writing.
The programme also includes an evening for mana wāhine, a panel of our favourite fiction writers, as well as writing and publishing workshops on the weekend.
This festival ultimately can be attended by everyone — established writers, upcoming writers, readers, book lovers, and the wider community.
For those who are unable to attend in person, Kupu will go to their homes through live and delayed webcasts as well as podcasts, interviews, and other online features.
Bringing Kupu online is more than digitising the festival. It not only increases access, it also overcomes the unpredictability of such barriers as Covid. This will ensure that it complies with all regulations and public health safety while being prepared for any sudden changes and putting the health of our whānau first.
The wishing tree appeal is in its 31st year and the need for it 'has never been greater'.