Tēnā koutou katoa i tēnei rangi, te tīmatanga o Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Heoi anō, ko ngā mihi nui ēnei ā Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga ki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori e kawe ake nei, e whakatairanga ake nei i tēnei kaupapa ia tau, ia tau kia noho tonu ai ko te reo Māori hei mea nui ki roto i te hinengaro o te tangata, ahakoa ko wai, ahakoa no hea. Nā reira e hoa mā, kia mau, kia ū, kia manawanui ki te reo taketake o tēnei whenua. Kōrerotia te reo, tuhituhia te reo, pānuitia te reo kia kore ai e ngaro, pēnei i te ngaronga o te moa. He taonga te reo Māori. He mea tuku mai e ō tātau mātua tīpuna hei tukutanga mā tātau ngā uri o rātau mā, ki ngā uri whakaheke. Ki te ngoikore tātau, ka ngoikore anō ko tō tātau reo. Kaua e tukuna te reo Māori kia memeha noa!

Heoi anō me tautoko e tātau te whakarauoranga mai o te reo Māori kia aro mai, kia whakawhirinaki mai hoki ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, ināianei, ā, haere ake nei, kia mau hoki i a rātau, kia mārama hoki ki a rātau te uara nui o tēnei reo puta noa te whenua. Ko tēnei momo uara nei, kei te ao mātauranga me te ao kawe rongo kōrero, kei te wāhanga tāpoi me te wāhanga ōhanga, tae atu anō hoki ki te ahurea me te hapori whānui. Ko te tino motuhaketanga o Aotearoa Niu Tīreni, ko āna kupu Māori pēnei i te ‘kia ora’, te ‘haere mai’, te ‘iwi’, te ‘marae’, te ‘haka’, te ‘kaumātua’, te ‘pōwhiri’, te ‘hāngi’ me te ‘moko’, arā, he mea taketake nō tēnei whenua, ā, me pēnā hoki te aro ki te reo Māori katoa, ka tika. Ko ō mātau wawata me ō mātau tūmanako mō tēnei whenua, kia reo rua katoa ai tātau, arā, kia kōrero ai i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā, ā, kia whai wāhi ai tātau katoa ki ngā ao me ngā mātauranga e rua, hei hāpai i te hunga kāhore e mārama ana ki te reo Māori, nā wai rā, kia whanake ai, kia eke panuku ai ngā hua me ngā painga i ngā wāhi katoa me ngā wāhanga katoa o tēnei whenua.

MĀORI LANGUAGE WEEK

Greetings to you all on this day, the beginning of Māori Language Week. Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga acknowledges the efforts of the Māori Language Commission in undertaking and promoting this initiative each year, so that the Māori language remains high in the conscience of people, no matter who they are and where they are from. So, colleagues be staunch, steadfast and stout-hearted towards the indigenous language of this country. Speak it, write it, and read it so that it does not become extinct, just the like moa became extinct. The Māori language is a treasure. It was passed down from our forebears to us, their descendants, to pass on down to our descendants. If we are apathetic about the Māori language, it will lose impetus. So let us not let the Māori language simply fade away!

Rather, let us support the resurgence of Māori language to win the hearts and minds of mainstream New Zealanders, now and in the future so they acquire and understand the enormous value of the language to the nation across the board. This value is in education and media, in tourism and the broader economy, and to culture and society. The distinctiveness of Aotearoa New Zealand with Māori words, terms and phrases like ‘kia ora’, ‘haere mai’, ‘iwi’, ‘marae’, ‘haka’, kaumātua, ‘pōwhiri’, ‘hāngi’ and ‘moko’ are iconic to this country, as the entire Māori language should be. We imagine and aspire to be a country where we are all bilingual, speaking Māori as well as English, providing access to two bodies of knowledge, enriching those who do not understand the Māori language and ultimately expanding our country’s potential incredibly at many levels.

For some of the activities by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga pertaining to the Māori language, visit the links and related projects below.

Erima Henare speaks on Te Reo Māori and Literature in Te Reo; watch the talk at http://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/content/te-reo-m%C4%81ori-and-lite…

The Value of the Māori Language Book Launch: Te Hua o Te Reo Māori; watch co-authors talks about the value and contribution of the Māori language at http://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/content/2014-maori-book-launch

For a comprehensive list of te reo Māori online videos, from our seminars, research and publications visit http://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/tags/te-reo

COPYRIGHT © 2021 NGĀ PAE O TE MĀRAMATANGA, A CENTRE OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND