Kua 36 tau te reo māori e noho ana hei reo ā-ture
Maori Language Commission with Koro Wetere. Dominion Post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1987/4271/18-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23180948
Ko te mahi tuatahi a te poari tuatahi o Te Komihana mō te Reo Māori i tā rātou hui tuatahi he panoni i tōna ingoa ki tētahi ingoa Māori: ki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
I hua ai Te Ture o te Reo Māori 1987 nā ngā whakahau, nā ngā pakanga i roto i ngā tau 70 me ngā tau 80 kia noho ai te reo Māori hei reo ā-ture. Nā tēnei, ka mana te mōtika o ngā kaikōrero ki te whakamahi i te reo Māori i ngā horopaki ā-ture. I whakatūria hoki e te ture Te Komihana mō te Reo Māori, ā, ka rere pai āna mahi i te Ākuhata, 1987.
I tēnei rā kua 36 tau te reo Māori e noho ana hei reo ā-ture i Aotearoa, i muri i te whakamanatanga o tētahi pire i kōkuhua rā e Koro Wētere i te tau 1987. Nā Te Ture Reo Māori 1987, i hua mai ai ko Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, i mōhiotia i mua rā ko Te Komihana mō te Reo Maori.
I kopoua a Tā Tīmoti Kāretu hei Heamana tuatahi, ā, i riro māna tētahi rōpū e whakarite e rewa ai te waka o te komihana. I tētahi uiuinga motuhake me Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ka kōrero a Tīmoti mō te wā tuatahi i haere atu te Minita mō ngā take Māori o mua, a Koro Wētere, ki a ia i te Maehe o tērā tau ki te whakatū i te whakahaere. Ka toru tau te roa o te mahi, ā, me mātua wehe ia i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.
“Ka haere mai rā ko Koro, ā, ka pātai mai mēnā ka whakaae au ki tērā tūranga. I mate au i te kōrero ki taku Rangatira o te Whare Wānanga mēnā ka whakaae ia kia wātea mai au.”
Ko Tā Tīmoti rātou ko Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira, ko Anita Moke, ko Tā Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka, ko Dr Ray Harlow ngā mema poari tuatahi. He kōre nō rātou i rata atu ki te ingoa tuatahi i tahuri ai rātou ki te wānanga i tētahi ingoa e tino whakakanohi ana i te iwi Māori. Ki nā Kīngi Ihaka te ingoa hou,
“He āhua Pākehā rawa, he āhua maroke rawa mō tērā ingoa. Ka whakaaro ake te koroua me pēnei pea te ingoa (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maōri) arā, nāna i homai. Ko tāna e kī rā ko te taura here. Herea tātou katoa ko te reo. I whiriwhiria ana tērā taura e tēnā iwi, e tēnā iwi, kia māro ai tērā taura haere ake nei.”
Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira, Tākuta Ray Harlow, Mātene Rūāwai(Kaituhi), Ahorangi Tīmoti Kāretu, Tā Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka (Tumuaki), Ānita Moke
Taka rawa ki tēnei rā, kua kaha te whakaaweawe a ētahi kaupapa reo Māori i ngā hapori, i ngā whakahaere, i ngā pakihi me ētahi tāngata takitahi. I te tau 2020, ka whakarewaina e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Te Wā Tuku Reo, e whai ana kia kotahi miriona ngā tāngata e kōrero ana i te reo Māori i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.
I tēnei tau, kua hoki mai anō Te Wā Tuku Reo, ā, e ākina ana ngā tāngata kia tohu atu rātou i tā rātou whai wāhi atu ki Te Wā Tuku Reo, ki reomāori.co.nz. E 44 ana ngā rā hei whakarite, hei akiaki hoki i ngā tāngata o Aotearoa kia whai wāhi atu rātou ki te kotahi miriona e kōrero ana i te reo Māori i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.