Kīhai māhitihiti, kīhai mārakaraka, Te ūpoko nui o te rūrū terekou he pō, he pō, ka awatea,
Tēnei he mihi ki a koutou kua pānuitia ngā īmēra matoa mō tēnei wiki, ko tēnei wiki he wiki tino whakahirahira mai ki ngā tangata Māori kia whakaora ai o tātou nei reo rangatira. Anō nei he mihi manamanahau ki a koutou kia ako, kia hikina te wero ‘kia kaha I te reo Māori’. He pīki mihi ki ngā kura I tū ki te papa tūwaewae o ngā kura tuarua kapa haka whakataetae o Waitaha kia whakanui koutou ngā mahi a Hine Rēhia me Tāne Rore. Ko ngā kapa ko te rōpū kapa haka o Te Wharekura o Te Whānau Tahi koutou ko Kimihia te Mātauranga, ko Te kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kura Whakapūmau, anō nei he mihi ki a mātou ko Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi, kia kaha kia māia o koutou tū ki Ngā kura tuarua kapa haka whakataetae o te motū. Ko tēnei te rā whakamutunga mō te wiki o te reo Māori, kei runga noa atu tātou huri noa i te motū.
This is a mihi to you all who have engaged and read these emails throughout the week, this week is super important to all especially for Māori as a way to revitalise te reo Māori. Another round of mihi filled with overjoy to those who have engaged, learnt something new and taken up the challenge, ‘ kia kaha I te reo Māori’. A huge mihi to all our kura who stood yesterday on our stage and competed in our Waitaha Secondary School kapa haka competition. To our competing groups from Te Aratai, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kura Whakapūmau ki te reo Tūturu ki Waitaha, from us all here within the Christchurch City Libraries, we wish you nothing but the best stand with pride and stand with bravery at the Secondary Kapa Haka Nationals for New Zealand. Today is our last day for te wiki o te reo Māori, to us all around we made it!
To finish off our pūrākau journey with Ngā Atua, we are ending with tētahi tamaiti kāore anō ia kia puta ki te ao, e noho tonu ana ia ki te puku o Papatūānuku, ko ia he atua rongonui mai ki ngā tangata o Ōtautahi, ko tōna ingoa ko Ruaumoko. This last atua is one for all those in Christchurch will be most familiar with, he lives in the belly of Papatūānuku, his name is Ruaumoko. One of the most unieque things about mātauranga Māori is the power of whakawhiti kōrero, the exchanging of stories and words and by doing so we get to understand and learn something new or different about things we already know, I hope these readings have encouraged you to think about what you know about these uara (values) and ngā atua and how we can grow that knowledge.
Ruaumoko – god of Earthquakes
Ko tōna ingoa ko Ruaumoko. Ko ia te tamaiti whakamutunga a Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku, engari tē taea e ia kia whānau mai ki te ao. Ā muri I te wehenga o ōna matua, e noho tonu ana a Ruaumoko ki te puku a Papatūānuku kia tipu ai ia. Kia nekehia a Ruaumoko ki te puku, kia pana ōna waewae ki ngā tāhuhu o Papatūānuku, e rū ana te whenua. Ki te whenua o Ōtautahi i te tau rua mano mā tēkau mā tahi, i oho a Ruaumoko. I te pūehu o te whenua, i piri tahi ngā tangata o Ōtautahi kia whakaora ai anō ngā tangata, kia whakahoki te mauri ki te whenua.
His name was Ruaumoko. He was the last child of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, but he wasn’t able to grow into the world. After the separation of his parents, Ruaumoko remained in the belly of Papatūānuku where he continued to grow. When Ruaumoko moves in the belly and kicks into the ribcage of Papatūānuku, the ground would shake. Here in Christchurch in the year 2011, Ruaumoko awoke. As the dusted settled, the people of Christchurch band together as one to revitalise us all as a people and to return the life back to the land. Ruaumoko remains dormant however we know that just like our pēpi growing inside the puku, they are unpredictable when they will wake and begin to toss and turn, pērā te āhuatanga a Ruaumoko.
Whakapapa
Right from the moment you enter into this world, your whakapapa has been written and entrusted into all of your being as whakapapa runs deep inside all of us. Whakapapa in translation refers to genealogy, however growing up as an uri o ōku tīpuna me ngā atua, my whakapapa was sung, read, written and paved for me to understand at all stages of my life and to this day I continue to learn my whakapapa, strengthen it for the generations to come and explore where my whakapapa might extend to. This is our uara whakamutunga kia ako tātou, our last value we will be learning.
My whole whānau celebrate the teachings of our atua by singing these waiata on the marae that pay homage, give thanks and awaken our stories describing the battles, the journey and the fruitions of each atua. Looking out on the moana, out towards our maunga, hearing the calls of our manu and basking in the bounty harvests of kai, we connect ourselves with the whakapapa of all those atua who came before, reminding ourselves of the importance and then returning the mauri of each thing by acknowledging all of its whakapapa.
I asked my koro before he passed away what whakapapa is and why is it so important for us to know. He took me down to the beach to tell me a story, we walked for what my little legs felt like eternity to find the perfect spot to hear this story. Once we came to a stop he told me,
‘tirohia ki ō rekereke ki te onepū. I a wā, ka haere koe ki te ao, nā wai rā he rangatahi haere koe, he pakeke haere koe, he kaumātua haere koe, ā i te haerenga whakamutunga ka hoki koe tō wairua ki te rerenga wairua, kia noho tahi ki te taha o ōu tīpuna me tō whānau kua whetūrangitia ki te pō. Pērā i te mahi o ōu rekereke ki te onepū.’
‘look at the heels of your feet in the sand. Each day you venture off into the world, you go through all stages of growth from youth, to adulthood all the way into our older generations we refere to as ‘grandma, grandpa, koro, kuia etc’, the last stage is where you and your spirit ascend and travels back to the final place our wairua goes before it journeys to sit alongside your ancestors and your whānau who have now passed on. Kua hotuhotu ana te ngakau ki a rātou kua whetūrangitia ki te pō, haere ki te Kūpenga a Taramainuku, ki te poho o Ranginui, ki te toimata o ngā rangi tūhāhā, mihi kau atu ki a koutou i tēnei wā.
Maramataka
Hoata – I tēnei wā, our mauri levels are starting to pick back up, you might start to feel a bit more energised heading in to this new week, for our tamariki heading in to the last week of kura this is a time for you start preparing for the things that you can do over the holidays that keeps you motivated and focused on your mahi that comes each day, for our pakeke this is a time for us to start thinking and planning out the next few days to make life a bit easier, for those of us looking for something to do in the holiday check out our Tangaroa Whakamautai Holiday Programme and come learn with us. This is a time that’s great for planting seedlings and as daylight savings approaches us next week, it’s a good time now to start thinking of what you can add into your māra (garden) to make your pocket slightly lighter this coming holidays.
Te waiata, tukuna ki te ao
Ko tēnei te waiata whakamutunga mō tēnei wiki, this is our last song for the week and what a journey this has been. For this waiata, we are taking things back to when I was growing up, my koro would sing this waiata to my nanny all the time as a way to grease his way back into her good books. This waiata sung both in English and te reo Māori was nostalgic in the sense it brought such joy and emotion, it showed me just how simple, beautiful and cheeky te reo Māori can be, lastly I remember hearing my koro before he would start singing to my nanny
‘e te tau, kau akua tīkaro ō whatu ki ahau! Ko ahau tō ngakau, tō ao, hoki mai ki ahau. My love, don’t roll your eyes at me! I am your heart and your world, come back to me.’
Ko tēnei waiata ko Tahi nei taru kino. To whakamana te kōrero o te uara whakapapa, to strengthen the kōrero of the value whakapapa, within this song you’ll see many faces but to me those faces are all too familiar, kia ōku whanaunga.
Kupu mō te rā
I tēnei wā, ko te kupu mō te rā he kupu kia whakanui ngā tangata, kia whakanui ngā mahi me ngā mea katoa, this word is a word used to give thanks to the people, the work and all things in general, let’s all celebrate te wiki o te reo Māori with the kupu ‘Hurō!’. Hurō translates into happiness, to be overjoyed and even saying it, your mauri (energy) and wairua (spirit) inside can tell its something to be happy and smile about. When using this kupu, think about situations where something awesome has just happened, think of when you finally complete something like making your bed, finishing a book and many more, that’s when you can use this kupu like, ‘Hurō, I’m finally finished my work!’. The feeling for this kupu is essentially the same feeling and everything that you get when exclaiming, ‘lessgoooooo’ so next time you get in moments like that, try giving ‘hurō’ a go!
I tēnei wā e mihi manamanahau ana ki a koutou katoa kua pānuitia ngā īmēra puta noa, kia haumaru tō haerenga ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, me waiho ngā kupu whakamutunga mā Tā Apirana Ngata,
“E tipu e rea mo ngā rā o tō ao. Ko tō ringa ki ngā rākau ā te Pakeha Hei ara mō tō tinana. Ko tō ngākau ki ngā tāonga a ō tīpuna Māori. Hei tikitiki mō tō māhuna. Ko tō wairua ki tō Atua, Nānā nei ngā mea katoa.”
“Grow up and thrive for the days destined to you. Your hands to the tools of the Pakeha to provide physical sustenance, Your heart to the treasures of your Māori ancestors as a diadem for your brow, Your soul to your God, to whom all things belong.”
Justice
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