Nā Tania Roxborogh tēnei arokatenga i tuhi. Hei tāna, te whakamahi o te reo Māori ki roto o ngā akomanga me ngā pakiwaitara o Aotearoa me taitua, ā, e matapakia ana tōna pukapuka Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature From the Sea.
Nā Krissi Smith i whakamāori tō Tania kōrero.
I roto i ēnei tau tekau, e ako ana au i te reo Māori. I mua i taku taenga ki te akoranga reo tuatahi, pēnei au he nui ōku mātauranga: i tipu ake au i Te Tai Tokerau, he Māori hoki au. Whai ake i te wiki tuatahi, kua mārama ki a au kāore au e mōhio ana ki te paku aha. Engari, i hiahia au ki te mōhio, i hiahia au kia mōhio ai aku ākonga anō hoki. He aha ai? Nā ngā pakiwaitara. Nā te reo. He reo whaimana e ai ki te ture, pai kare! Ko ā tātou nei kōrero, me ngā whakatakotoranga maha hei whakakākahu i ngā kōrero, me ngā tohu o te whenua me te moana, ko ēnei mea katoa e hono ai ā tātou mokopuna ki te ao.
I te mutunga o te tau 2016, ka uia e au aku ākonga e pā ana ki ō rātou whakaaro mō taku whakamahi i ngā kupu Māori, i ngā rerenga kōrero Māori, ā, kua eke ngā whakaatu whakahē ki te 85%. Auē te mamae e ngau kino nei i a au, i tō tātou nei taonga ātaahua.
Auē te mamae e ngau kino nei i a au, i tō tātou nei taonga ātaahua.
Ākina ai ngā tamariki kia kai ai rātou i ngā huawhenua he mōhio nō tātou he pai mō te tipu, mō te ora. Kai ai aku tamāhine i te porokori i runga i taku māminga i a rātou me taku kī he rākau kē ngā poro porokori rā. He tāngata kaitā ngā kōtiro, ā, he rākau tonu te porokori. Katoa ngā mātua he rautaki pēnei tā ratou, kia pai ai ngā mahi a ngā tamariki. Ko au tonu tērā e pōhēhē ana kua pai taku whāngai i te reo ki āku ākonga anō hoki.
Ko ngā pānuitanga me ngā huatau e kitea ana e te ākonga kura tuarua, he mea whakatau e tōna kaiako Ingarihi. Ki au nei, i te nuinga o te wā, kāore ngā ākonga e tino mōhio ana he aha ngā mea e rata ai rātou, ā, mēnā he pai te whakaatu i tētahi mea hou (pērā i ngā pereti rākau porokori), ka whai ngā ākonga i a koe i runga i te ara pānui e kōwhiritia ana e koe. Nā konei au e whakaako ai i ngā tuhinga a Shakespeare i ia tau, ki ia akoranga. Ko Shakespeare te kai a te rangatira, ā, me whai wāhi atu te katoa ki te rongo i te reka o āna kōrero.
. . . mēnā he pai te whakaatu i tētahi mea hou, ka whai ngā ākonga i a koe i runga i te ara pānui e kōwhiritia ana e koe.
Heoi anō, ehara i te mea kei te whakaako au i roto i te mohoaotanga. He nui kē atu ngā kōrero a te Māori, ā, ahakoa ngā tini tau o te tāmitanga e te ao Pākehā, kua ara ake anō ēnei kōrero. He hākoakoa, he waimarie, he haepapa hoki nōku ki te ārahi i ngā kaipānui taiohi o Aotearoa, kei roto, kei waho hoki i aku akoranga, ki ēnei raranga kōrero ātaahua rirerire. Ko taku mahi iti noa nei hei whakamauru i te tāmitanga me te kaikiri i ēnei tau 150 nei mai i te taenga o te Pākehā, he hāpai i ngā kōrero a Shakespeare me ngā kōrero Māori hoki.
He mea whakahirahira tonu te pupuri i ngā pānuitanga nō te wā koroniara, ko ngā mea pai rawa, nā te mea, mā te pānui i ngā kōrero ka mārama haere te ao ki a tātou, ki te ao Māori, me ērā atu ao kē.
Whakaarohia te wā e pūrangiaho ai ki tētahi ākonga, ko ngā kupu a Shakespeare tērā e whakamārama ana i ōna kare ā-roto mō tāna ake whaiāipo; te wā e tohetohe ai te akoranga katoa he whakaweti rawa ngā mahi a te marea ki a Kīngi Lear, kātahi ka whakaaro rātou ki ō rātou mātua (me ō rātou whāea), ā, me pēhea te whakatika i ā rātou hē.
Ā, whakaarohia te wā e tuhi ai tētahi ākonga i tana tuhingaroa me te whakamahi i ngā kupu reo Māori, nā te mea, ko aua kupu ngā kupu pai ake mō te horopaki – he mahi whiri i ngā aho e rua o te pūnaha mātauranga o Aotearoa: te taha Pākehā, e whai ana i ngā whakatakotoranga o ngā Kirīki o mua, i te wetereo, i ngā kōrero a Shakespeare e kore e maroke i te rā, me te taha tangata whenua e kikī ana i ngā akoranga me ngā pūrākau e kitea nei i waho tonu o te matapihi: te kauri, te pōhutukawa, te kūmara, te moana, ngā ingoa me ngā wāhi me ngā kōrero e haere ake nei, e haere ake nei.
Taku haerenga i te taha o Charlie
I puta mai ki a au ngā kōrero tuatahi a Charlie i te tīmatanga o Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature From the Sea i te tau 2008: ‘Ka ahatia inā rokohanga e koe he marakihau e takoto ana i runga i te onepū?’ Ka tuhi au i ngā upoko pukapuka e rua, kātahi ka mutu katoa ngā mahi. Ānō nei e tohu mai ana te ao ki a au, kāore anō koe kia rite ki te tuhi i te kōrero nei. Māu tonu te kōrero, engari kāore anō kia tukuna ki a koe. Ka hipa ngā tau, ka pupū ake te whakaaro i roto i a au, he mea nui kē atu te kōrero nei i tāku i whakaaro tuatahi ai. He kōrero e toro atu ana ki aku kāwai whakapapa ki te Tai Rāwhiti (nō Ngāti Porou ōku tīpuna).
I te tau 2014, ka hoki mai anō te reo o Charlie ki a au, ka haere au ki Te Tai Rāwhiti, i reira ‘ka riro’ mai i a au te roanga o te kōrero. Ko te tikanga, i te tuatahi me ako au ki te pānui, ki te tuhi hoki i te reo Māori, ki te ako anō hoki i ngā kōrero hītori o tēnei motu, kātahi ka ‘tukuna’ au ki te tuhi i te kōrero mō Charlie me āna mahi mātātoa i waenga i ngā atua whawhai o Aotearoa, me ngā kōrero pono i ako ai ia.
Ko te tikanga, i te tuatahi me ako au ki te pānui, ki te tuhi hoki i te reo Māori, ki te ako anō hoki i ngā kōrero hītori o tēnei motu…
Kei te kura e mahi nei au, he kaha tō mātou tautoko i ngā ākonga, i ō rātou whānau, i ngā mahi ako, me te oranga o te noho tata rawa ki roto i tō mātou kōhanga. He pīpī tonu mātou, engari he kaha ngā kaimahi ki te kōrero i te reo Māori anake, ina, kite mātou i a mātou i te papa tākaro, i te rūma kaimahi rānei. He uaua, engari e kitea ana e ngā tamariki. E kitea ana tā mātou hāpai i te reo me ngā tikanga. E whakamana ana i tō tātou taonga. Ka whai wāhi atu ngā ākonga Māori kia tipu kaha, ā, kia kitea e te katoa te hua o te reo.
I te mutunga o tērā tau, i tukuna anō e au te uinga. I taua wā, he 15% noa iho ngā whakautu whakahē. He hurihanga mīharo. Ka titiro mai ā tātou ākonga ki a tātou ānō nei he tauira mō rātou. Ka poipoi rātou i ngā mea e poipoi ai tātou, ā, ko tāku e whakapono nei, ka ara ake ētahi kōrero hou i Aotearoa nei, he kōrero pīataata mai nei i te pīataaata o te ao hurihuri, ā, he hokinga whakamuri anō hoki ki ngā wā o mua, ki ngā tikanga.
. . .ko tāku e whakapono nei, ka ara ake ētahi kōrero hou i Aotearoa nei, he kōrero pīataata mai nei i te pīataaata o te ao hurihuri, ā, he hokinga whakamuri anō hoki ki ngā wā o mua, ki ngā tikanga.
Me anga whakamua me te tiro whakamuri, me toro atu tātou ki ngā pakimaero, ki ngā ruri, ki ngā pakiwaituhi, e whakaataata nei i a Aotearoa. Me mōhio hoki ā tātou rangatahi ki ngā kōrero i ahu mai i tō tātou ake whenua me ngā mea i kawea mai e te moana, i tukuna iho i roto i ngā tau. He ātaahua ake tō rātou ao i ēnei mahi. Ko tātou ngā kaiārahi i roto i ngā rākau porokori.
Tania Roxborogh
Tania Roxborogh is a high school English teacher and award-winning author. She is a storyteller, and a truth seeker, making sense of the world through story. As many stories as she can access. Currently Tania is studying toward her Masters in Te Reo Māori. She is researching the similarities of the imagery of the natural world used in whakataukī and Shakespeare’s plays to explain human behaviour.