‘Te Reo Ki Tua’: ka tū tētahi hui whakanui i te reo Māori ki Heretaunga

First, the link to the original interview (downloaded from Manako, Radio Waatea, 18/08/2022):

Second, the link to my spoken summary:

I tēnei uiuinga, ka kōrero tahi a Reuben Epiha rāua ko Jeremy Macleod.

Ā te marama e heke mai nei, ka tū tētahi hui ki Heretaunga hei whakanui i te whakarauora i te reo Māori. E whā ēnei momo hui i tū ai i ngā tau kua pahure, ā, ko te tuarima tēnei. Otirā, he rerekē te whakaaro mō te mea nei.

E ai ki a Jeremy, i ngā tau o mua, kua whakatōpū i ngā tāngata ngākaunui ki te reo o roto o Kahungunu. Otirā, i tēnei tau, ko te whakaaro, me huaki te kūaha ki te motu whānui, me whakatōpū hoki i ngā toki reo Māori mai i tēnā iwi, i tēnā iwi hei kaikōrero. Mō rātou e whakarongo ana, ko te whāinga, whai muri i ngā kōrero,  kia hoki anō rātou ki ō rātou rohe “i runga i te whakaaro hihiko ki te reo Māori.”

Kua whakamāramatia e Jeremy, ehara tēnei hui i tētahi momo kura reo. He kaupapa kē tēnei –  kia rongo ai i ngā kōrero a ngā mea kaha ki te whakatairanga i te reo Māori.

Ko tā Jeremy whakautu i te pātai, he aha tana tino hiahia mō tēnei hui:

“Ki a au, ko tētahi tino hua, ko te kite mai i kotahi mano tāngata ki roto i te rūma kotahi, e kimi ana i te oranga tonutanga o te reo i roto i a rātou. Kāore i tua atu i te noho i waenganui i te hunga e tapatahi nei te whakaaro, e tapatahi nei ngā ngākau, e kotahi nei te wairua ki te whakapiki i te oranga o te reo ki roto i ō rātou iwi maha.”

Otirā, kāore rāua i kōrero mō te ingoa o te hui, ‘Kua huri te tai.’ Pēhea ō whakaaro? Kua huri te tai mō te reo Māori, kāore rānei?

Kei konei te hononga hei rēhita, mō ngā kaikōrero, mō ngā tino whāinga hoki o te hui.

Kupu āwhina 
HeretaungaHastings
whakarauora i te reorevival of the language
whakatōpūassemble (a group)
toki reo Māorichampions of the Māori language
whakaaro hihiko ki…to be inspired, excited about …
whakatairangapromote
tapatahito be united
Kua huri te tai!The tide has turned!

English version:

‘The language forging ahead’: a symposium celebrating the Māori language to be held in Hastings

In this interview Reuben Epiha is talking with Jeremy Macleod.

Next month, a symposium is going to be held in Hastings to celebrate the revival of the of the Māori language. Four of these symposiums have been held in the years gone by, and this is the fifth. However, the idea behind this one is different.

According to , in previous years they gathered people who were passionate about the Māori language from within the iwi Ngāti Kahungunu. However, this year the idea was that they would open the doors to the whole country and gather Māori language champions from every iwi as speakers. For those who are going to be listening, the aim is that following the speeches they will return to their own areas “inspired about the Māori language.”

Jeremy explained that this isn’t this symposium isn’t a language school – it’s a whole different thing, to enable people to hear speeches from those who are strong in promoting the modern language.

 This is Jeremy’s answer to a question about the main thing he personally wanted from this symposium:

“To me the thing which is most worthwhile is to see a thousand people in one room who are seeking after the continuing well-being of the language amongst their own people. There’s nothing better than being amongst a group of people who’ve got united thoughts, united hearts and a united spirit for lifting the health of the language in their own iwi.”

However they didn’t talk about the title of the symposium – “The tide has turned!” What are your thoughts? Has the tide turned for the Māori language or not?

 Here is the link to register, to find out about the speakers, and to find out about the main aims of the symposium.

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