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26 Hōngongoi (July) 2009

The first of the week's audio items in wholly te reo Māori. Follow this link for a programme summary in English, designed to help your listening.

"Tōku reo, tōku ohoohotanga, he māpihi pounamu te reo, ki ahau mai i te wā kāinga, i akohia e au i roto i te reo i aku kōroua, tīpuna, e ai ki a rātou kōrero, mehemea i ākona,i whakaūhia tērā ki roto i te pepi i te ūkaipō rānei, noho tonu, noho tonu, noho tonu, ā, koirā taku whakamārama. Nā reira he māpihi pounamu tēnei hei whāinga atu ki ngā kōhunghunga katoa, ahakoa ko wai." Rangimaewa Beamsley nō Ngai Tūhoe

It's been through protest, legislation and use that te reo Māori has been rescued from extinction. Yet according to this week's guests there's still some way to go before te reo Māori is safeguarded for future generations. To mark Te wiki o te reo Māori (26 Hongongoi - 02 Here-turi-kōkā) this week's broadcast of Te Ahi Kaa looks at ways of reconnecting with te reo Māori.

Erima Henare nō Ngati Hine lays out the history that established Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, The Māori Language Commission.

The head of Māori Television, Jim Mather, nō Ngati Awa, reminisces about part of his Te Teko childhood immersed in te reo Māori and the determination he has to become more fluent in the language.

When on an exchange trip to Japan Stacey Morrison, nō Te Arawa, Ngai Tahu, realised the irony of speaking Japanese when she knew nothing about te reo Māori. Miriama Kamo nō Ngai Tahu has found the language learning programme, Te Ataarangi founded by Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi and Katerina Mataira, revolutionary in hooking her into te reo.

It felt like the most natural thing to do when Hinewehi Mohi, no Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūhoe, sang the New Zealand anthem in te reo Māori at the opening of the 1999 Rugby World Cup. So she was surprised at the backlash the next morning. Ten years later the musician muses on the state of race relations and how her years educated at St Josephs Maori Girls College in Napier and love of waiata Māori sealed the deal when it came to speaking te reo Māori.

Waiata featured:

Torete te kiore and He Taonga from the album Hinepukohurangi/Shrouded in the mist by Whirimako Black.

Kei hea taku reo from the album Houhou te rongo by Whirimako Black

Te Waiata a te Ataarangi as sung by Joe Akuhata Brown