Ahorangi John Moorfield
E mōteatea ana a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i te rongotanga atu kua hinga a Ahorangi John Moorfield, tētahi o ngā tino hoa, tino kaitautoko, tino kaiwhakaako hoki o te reo Māori.
Hei tā Tākuta Wayne Ngata te Toihau o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, “Ka aua atu nei e puta whānui atu ana ngā mahi a Murumāra ki te mano ākonga reo Māori mā roto i te whānau rauemi a Te Whanake, arā, a Te Kākano, rātou ko Te Pihinga, ko Te Māhuri, ko Te Kōhure, papakupu mai, whakaata mai, ipurangi mai, kei whea mai!”
“Ko ia tēnei o te pukenga wai o ngā mātanga Pākehā i te reo Māori pau te kaha o tōna aroha ki te iwi Māori, otirā, ki ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa. Ko tāna tino mahi ko te kimi huarahi hou ki te reo Māori mā te hunga rangatahi me ngā pakeke kia ākona, kia whānui hoki te whakamahia ahakoa i hea, ahakoa te kaupapa. Mā te aha hoki i tana koha nui ki te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori”
“Nā āna mahi i nui ai te reo o te hunga iti te reo, kore reo rānei kia pakari ki te kōrero; he mea tautoko hoki āna mahi i ngā pūkenga reo kia hohonu ai te mōhio ki ngā āhuatanga o te wetereo, o te reo Māori, me ōna tikanga hoki”.
Nō te tau 2010 i te whiwhinga ōna ki Te Mētera Whakanui Ratonga a te Kuini ka whai kupu ia mō te angitū o te whakarauoratanga: “Kua nui te mahi kia mātua whakarite ka kōrerotia te reo. Ko tāku e āwangawanga nei ko te kounga o te reo e kōrerotia ana e te tangata...he whakanikoniko i te reo mō te hunga matatau ki te kōrero Māori. He mea nui aua tāngata mō tō tātou āpōpō. Ko tāku, me ora te reo, heoi anō me pakari tonu tōna āhua. Koinā te mea whakaihiihi nei i a au.”
Ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā kaiārahi i ngā mahi hanga i te papakupu reo Māori anake 24,000 ngā kupu matua, He Pātaka Kupu, i whakaputaina ai e Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
He Ahorangi a John Moorfield i te Auahatanga me te Whanaketanga Māori i Te Ara Poutama, te Tari o te Auahatanga me te Whanaketanga Māori i Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau.
He Ahorangi ia i mua i Te Tumu, te Kura Māori, Moananui ā-Kiwa me te Tangata Whenua i te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou me te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.
Kāti, Murumāra, whakarongo ki te reo Māori e karanga nei, whakarongo ki ngā akoranga rangatira – e te hoa, haere atu rā.