Wāhanga 4: The survival of language through intergenerational transmission

Ko te tuku iho o te reo te tino aronga mai mō te oranga tonutanga o te reo Māori. Koirā te take e titiro ana ki te mahi o ngā kura. I tēnei wā ka aro atu te nuinga o ngā whānau ki ngā kura, mā ngā kura e ora atu ai te reo Māori ki waenga i ngā tamariki, mā ngā tamariki e kawe atu ai te reo ki tōna oranga. Ko te āwangawanga o tērā whakaaro, he nui anō ngā wā ka kuhu ngā tamariki ki roto i te kura engari ko te reo i te kāinga ko te reo Pākehā. Nō reira ko te reo i whakatipuria atu ai ēnei reanga ko te reo Pākehā. Engari i te haerenga atu ki te kura ki reira e whāngai ana ki te tangata. Ahakoa pakari nei te reo o te tangata a muri mai i te rima tau, waru tau, aha rānei e pēhea te roa i roto i taua kura, ka tae noa te wā ka whai tamariki tonu ēnei tauira, ā, pakeke noa, whai tamariki ka hoki anō rātou ki tērā reo i whakatipuria ai rātou, arā, ko te reo Pākehā. I te mea koirā kē te reo taunga ana ki a rātou, te reo whakawhiti ki te pēpē, te reo whakawhiti i waenga i ngā tamariki. Ko te mea nui nei i roto i ngā hapori ko te akiaki i ngā whānau ki te kōrero i te reo Māori ki ngā tamariki i te wā e pēpē tonu ana. Kāore e kore pakeke noa ngā tamariki, ka pērā anō te mahi o aua tamariki ki ā rātou uri whai muri i a rātou. Nō reira ko te oranga tonutanga o te reo Māori ka kite i roto i tērā tuku ihotanga o te reo mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki. Ehara i te mea ka kitea i roto i ngā kura. Ka haere mai ki ngā kura, engari ka mutu te kura ... kei hea te reo Māori ki ngā whānau? Ko te akiaki nui me pēhea e uru atu ai ngā whānau ki roto i ngā mahi o te kura. Mōhio ana he nui ngā tauira o ngā kura e pērā ana, e akiaki ana kia mahi tahi me ngā whānau, kia kōrero Māori, kia rūmaki nei, ngā whānau katoa i te taha o ngā tamariki i te kura. Engari he reanga anō ... ko wai ka mōhio he aha tērā reo e kōrerotia ana ki ngā mokopuna whai muri i ērā i te kura.

Mōku ake nei i a au e whai i te reo Māori - he pono nei ēnei kōrero - i tīmata taku reo Māori i te kura. Nō reira, hāunga anō aku haerenga ki te hāhi, aku mahi i roto i te Katorika nei he miha reo Māori, hāunga anō ērā engari ko te ako i te reo Māori e ako ā-marautanga. Ka mutu tērā ka haere ki te Whare Wānanga, he tohu anō tērā whai muri. He kaha anō ki te whai ētahi tohu whai muri i te Whare Wananga. Engari i tōna mutunga ko te reo i roto i a au ko te ngākaunui, ko te kaingākau ki te reo Māori i roto i au, i kitea kētia i roto i te hapori. I kitea i runga i te hiakai o ōku whanaunga o roto o Taranaki nei te kaha anō o te hiahia o ngā whānau kia kitea te tangata e tū ki te marae o te tangata tuhi kōrero, te waiata i ngā waiata, ēnei tikanga katoa, ngā tikanga katoa o roto o te ao o Taranaki. I te hiahiatia nei kia kawea i roto i te reo o Taranaki. 

Koirā te mea wero mai ki a au. I mua atu i tērā ko taku whāinga he hauora kē te ia o aku mahi. Nō te rongotanga ā-ngākau nei ki tērā hiahia, tērā mate nui i roto i taku iwi ki te reo Māori he noho pōhara nei i roto i ngā mahi ā-iwi kātahi ka huri te kei o taku waka, ka huri te ia, te hau kia whai i a hau kē. Ana nō te piringa ki te hapori e kōrero Māori ana e rumaki ana ki te reo Māori, kua ora te reo i roto i au. Otirā ki aku tamariki. Me tōku pono nei ki aku mokopuna a tōna wā. Engari i tēnei wā, ko te mea i wero mai ki au he rerekē i te mea e wero mai ki aku tamariki nā te mea i tipu tahi anō ko rāua i roto i te reo Māori. 

The transmission of the Māori language is key to its survival. This is why we focus on schools. Today many families look at a school as being the place where Māori can be instilled within their children. Those children will usher the language to good health. The worrying aspect about this is the many times that children enter a Māori immersion school yet come from English-speaking homes. So there are generations of children being raised in English, and who are only exposed to the Māori language when at school. Although a child’s language may be good for the five to eight years, or however long they are at school, these students will eventually grow to adulthood, and become parents. They will return to the language they were raised in: the English language. Because this is the language they were accustomed to as babies, and when talking with other children. So the important thing for people to do is to encourage families to speak Māori to their children from the time they are infants. There’s no doubt that when these children grow up, they will do the same thing for their own offspring. Therefore, Māori language survival really depends on the passing down of the language from the parents to the children. It’s not as if schools can do this. Once school is over, what is the point of the Māori language for a family? More encouragement is needed to bring families into the life of the school. I know many students do this and are encouraged to work together with their families, to speak Māori, to immerse themselves in Māori, all families alongside the children at school. But there are others. Who knows what language will be spoken after school, among their grandchildren? 

For me, when I was learning Māori - and this is true - I started learning Māori at school. This was apart from going to Catholic Church and hearing Māori spoken at mass. That aside, learning Māori was based on a curriculum. When that was done, I went to University and gained a qualification. I worked hard to get further qualifications after university. But when all was said and done, my inspiration for the Māori language was found within my community. It was found in the desire of my kin who lived in Taranaki, in the longing of those families to see Māori speakers on the marae, and to see people writing in Māori, to sing Māori songs; all of the traditions of the Taranaki people. 

They wanted this to be conveyed in the Taranaki dialect. That was the challenge for me. Before this I was working in health. When I heard this call from the heart, this plea from my tribe for the Māori language that was in such a poor state amongst them; my life changed. My canoe turned about to seek a different wind. I then joined a group that spoke Māori and immersed itself in the language. The language was revived in me and at the same time, in my children. I believe that in time, it will be the same for my grandchildren. But the challenges I faced were different to the challenges now facing my children because they were both brought up in the Māori language.