5 Jul 2013

E whakanuia ana ngā kaikōrero Māori ki Ahitereiria

8:44 am on 5 July 2013

Nā te whai rawa o te pūtea me ngā tūranga mahi ki Ahitereiria kei te ngarongaro atu ā Aotearoa i ngā kaikōrero Māori, me ngā kaiako o te reo hoki.

E ai ki ngā rangahau o te kautetanga o Ahitereiria nō te tau 2011 - kua rahi ake ngā tāngata e whakamahi ana i te reo i te 53 pai hēneti mai i te tau 2006.

Kei te whakanuia e te Tumu Whakarae o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ngā manene Māori ki Ahitereiria - mō tō rātou kaha ki te hāpai i te reo me ā rātou tikanga.

Hei tā Glenis Philip-Barbara, he tino rawe ā rātou mahi - e whakatairangatia ana te reo Māori, i te mea kei te whakamanahia e rātou ā rātou iwi me ā rātou hāpori i Aotearoa nei.

Hei tāna anō, mēna ka haere tonu ā rātou mahi kia hāpai i te reo Māori, ā, me ā rātou mahi kia whāngai tonu i ō rātou whānau - ka nui te mihi ki ā rātou.

Hei tā tētahi minita nō te Haahi Mihingare a Kaua Te Rangi Tuhura, nō Ngāti Porou, kua whakaae mai te Ūpoko o te Haahi Mihingare o te Uru o Ahitereiria kia whakamoemititia rātou te Atua i roto i te reo Māori.

Kei te hari koa te ngākau a Glenis Philip-Barbara, i te mea hei tāna, tērā pea a tōna wā ka hoki mai rātou ki te kainga noho ai.

Kei te whakaritea e rātou te māpu ki te Uru o Ahitereiria kia whakatūria te marae tuatahi mō taua takiwā - kia tautokona te reo Māori me ōnā tikanga, ngā huihuinga, ā, hei tūrangawaewae hoki mō te hāpori Māori e noho ana ki reira.

Commission praises Maori in Australia for keeping te reo alive

The pull of better money and jobs in Australia means New Zealand is losing a significant number of fluent Maori language speakers - including teachers of te reo.

The latest Australian census in 2011 shows the number of Maori language speakers there has risen by 53% since 2006.

Maori Language Commissioner Glenis Philip-Barbara is praising Maori migrants in Australia for retaining their use of te reo and their traditional customs.

She says the work that Maori families are doing in Australia to hold on to their language is of huge significance to Aotearoa as a whole - to every iwi and to every community where they come from.

Ms Philip-Barbara says if they can continue this work across the Tasman while earning good money and feeding their whanau - then all power to them.

A Ngati Porou church leader based in Western Australia, the Reverend Kaua Tuhura, says local government authorities and the Anglican Church have been very accommodating to the needs of Maori language speakers.

Ms Philip-Barbara is also very optimistic that eventually many Maori migrants will return home.

There are plans to build a marae near Perth - the first one in Western Australia - as a pan-tribal centre to support Maori language initiatives and as a cultural base for Maori to connect with.