Hohepa Isaac-Sharland reflects on Hana O’Regan’s uLearn18 keynote.
‘Tō reo ki te raki, tō mana ki te whenua’
Let your story be heard in the heavens, and your mana be restored to the land
(2018, O’Regan)
Kia piki taku rau huia ki ngā tihi tapu o taku pae a Tararua,
e rere whakarunga ki te ūpoko o taku ika tapu,
Kia whiti atu rā i Te Moana o Raukawa ki te tauihu o te waka a Māui, ki te tauranga o Uruao,
Kia hōkai ake rā i ngā tapuwae o Rākaihautū,
tau atu rā ki ngā pākihi whakatekateka o Waitaha,
Kia hiki aku mata ki tō wehi, ki tō tapu Aoraki e tū mai rā,
otirā ki tō mana e hora iho nā e Tahu e!
Ka mihi, ka tangi ki a koutou katoa rā kua riro rā ki ngā hawaiki. Ka tautoko ake i ngā kupu mōteatea mōu Matiaha Tiramōrehu, otirā ngā kupu mihi, ngā kupu tangi, e koro e, moe mai rā. Ko tō reo ki te rangi, ko tō mana ki te whenua! Kāti rā.
Ko Tahu, ko koe e Hana. Ka mahana te ngākau, ka pūhana mai te wairua! Ka hotuhotu te ngākau, ka maurirere te wairua! Nāu e Hana!
Ko te momo i a koe Tiramōrehu, tohunga whakairo i te kupu ki te arero, ki te pepa, pou ranga i ōna tira, pou whakatō kākano ki ōna uri whakaheke, heke, heke, heke ki ō mokopuna te hāpai ake nei i ō wawata! Erangi ka hotuhotu ki ō tini mokopuna e kōtiti nei, e kuare nei i ngā kōrero mōu, auē te mamae e! Ka huri rātou ki hea? Mā wai rātou e tauawhi? Mā te mōteatea ō kōrero e whakakanohi mai, e whakaringaringa mai i te Tahu o āpōpō! E kore tō reo e ngū, e kore hoki e ngaro!
He hae roa, he ngau kino i te korenga o ngā kōrero o ō tātou tīpuna i kōrero i ō tātou kura. Ko ngā pānga tōnui ka taka mai ki ngā whakatipuranga e kīa ana, he tangata hākinakina, he tangata māngere, he tangata katakata, he tangata kēnge, he tangata mauhere, aha atu, aha atu. Pēnā i tāu i mea mai, ‘they know they (stereotypes) exist when they are followed around a dairy……have to process verbal abuse for speaking Māori to each other’ (2018, O’Regan).
Heoi anō ko tāu pū, kia tika mai, kia pai mai te ao, he whakapapa, he pūmanawa, he pūkenga o tēnei iwi taketake mai i ngā kāwai rangatira. ‘We can be the generation that made the change. We can reclaim our story and help our people understand it’ (2018, O’Regan). I ēnei kupu āu, ka tū te ihi, ka tū te wana, ko wai rā te tamaiti kei mua i a koe, ko Tahu, ko Te Rautāwhiri.
Ko au, ka whakataukī ake i āu kupu akiaki, i āu kupu whakatūpato, i āu kupu whakaaraara ki te ao mātauranga, otirā ki te ao e noho nei tātou kia aro pū ki te tamaiti me ōna kōrero whakapapa, arā he tāonga, he kākano.
E Hana ko tō reo i rāngona ki te rangi, ko tō mana i horahia ki te whenua, e te tuahine – mauriora!
Ngā Tohutoro
- O’Regan, H (2018, Oct) Te reo ki te raki, tō mana ki te whenua. Paper presented at the Aotearoa New Zealand CORE Education uLearn Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.
Ngā Whakaahua:
- O’Regan, H (2018, Oct) Te reo ki te raki, tō mana ki te whenua. Paper presented at the Aotearoa New Zealand CORE Education uLearn Conference, Auckland, New Zealand. – Images 1-3
- Tāwhiwhirangi, K (2018, Oct) ULearn18 Keynote Speaker – Image 4