Ki mua - Tamahou Temara, Tā Pou Temara, Tūtawhiorangi Temara. Ki muri – Tauwhiri Mihaere, Putiputi Temara

He tau nui te tau,
He tau urutā te tau
He tau kaikiri te tau
He hirahira te tau

Nō te 21 o Paengawhāwhā 1948, i whānau mai ai a Tā William Te Rangiua Temara (Pou) i te whārua o Ruatāhuna, ā, ko ia hoki te mokopuna mātāmua a Tamahou Timimēne rāua ko Pareraututu. Ko Waikarewhenua te wāhi i pakeke ai a Pou Temara tae noa ki te 8 tōna pakeke, kātahi ia ka hoki ki Ruatāhuna kuraina ai.

I whakatōkia wawetia e ōna koroua te mātauranga Māori ki roto i a Tā Pou nōna e taitamariki ana, i te manawa pū o Te Urewera. Ko ēnei mātauranga, kāore e tino whakawhiwhia ana ki te tautauhea, ki te ware, ki te kore mōhio, ā, ko te mātauranga nei, nō tāukiuki, nō ērā rautau. Ko te kura tēnei o te tohunga! Ka akona a Pou “kia koi te matapunenga, kia maiangi te matapūihoiho”, nā tōna koroua a Hikawera Te Kurapa ia i whakatangata ki tēnei kura. Nō konei, i mōhio pū ai a Pou he haepapa nui tāna ki ōna koroua me tōna ahurea kia mau ki te tapu o ngā mahi, ā, haere ake nei nōhea ia e hoki ki te hapa, ki te kōrapa rānei.

E hau ana tōna rongo i roto i te ao mātauranga, i roto hoki i ngā whare wānanga Māori, auraki hoki. Arā noa atu te mano tauira kua puta i ōna parirau. Ko te hunga pēnei i a Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins, Tā Joe Williams, Ahorangi Rangi Matamua, Pakake Winiata – a wai ake, a wai ake, te momo i whai wāhi ki a Pou i roto hoki i ngā tau, ana, e rangatira ana tēnei hunga ki roto ki tēnei ao.

Heoi anō, kāore e tino mōhiotia whānuitia ana, nānā te tūāpapa o te hōtaka Kōrero Māi i whakatakoto tuatahitia i te tau 1982 mō Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa.

Neke atu i te 43 tau a Tā Pou Temara e whakaako ana i te reo Māori me ōna tikanga ki roto i ngā whare wānanga puta noa i te motu. Ko Tā Pou, rātou ko Tā Tīmoti Kāretu, ko Ahorangi Te Wharehuia Milroy ngā poutiriao o te ao Māori i whakatū i Te Panekiretanga o te reo Māori – hei kura wānanga kia hoki anō te reo Māori ki te pae o kounga, kia mau hoki ki te tapu o tuawhakarere, kia eke tonu a Ngāi Māori ki te karamatamata o angitū.

Tino whakamānawatia ana a Tā Pou, e te tini tāngata mō āna mahi tohunga me te mahara anō ko Tā Pou te whakamutunga o tērā reanga e matatau rawa atu ana ki ēna mahi. Nāna anō te rōpū o Te Matapunenga, he rōpū tohunga, i whakatū hei Ruānuku, e ora anō ai ngā mahi a ngā tohunga Māori o nehe.

E tino rongonui ana a Tā Pou hei “tohunga ahurewa” i roto i te ao Māori ki te ao Pākehā. He mema hoki a Tā Pou i Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, he tūranga e puritia tonutia ana mai i te tau 2008, ā, moroki noa nei. Hoki atu, hoki atu, he rite tonu te tonoa ōna e ngā kamupene Pākehā, e ngā tari Kāwanatanga hoki ki te toha i ōna mātauranga me te hoatu whakaaro ki ngā kaupapa pīroiroi.

Nō te huringa tau o te tau hou Pākehā (2021) ka puta te pānuitanga kei te rārangi o Ngā Tohu Whakahōnore a Te Kuini o Ingarangi te ingoa o Tā Pou Temara e whātaretare mai ana.

E kare mā! Me pēhea kē rā hoki ahau e tiki atu anō ai i ngā kupu teitei nei e taea ai e ērā kupu tō tātou Pāpā te whakarangatira, waihoki, i roto i te kaute kupu? Korekore ana nei! Ko ngā hinonga nui, me tana whakamahiti korou i pahawatia e Tā Pou Temara i roto i ngā tau – mei kore ake te ao Māori i a ia. E mea ana ahau, e tungou ana te iwi Māori ki te Tā hou o te iwi Māori mōna e whakahōnoretia e te Kuini o Ingarangi.

Heoi anō rā, nō māua e kapu tī ana i tōna kāinga, ka rongo i te wairua horokukū e auau mai ana. Ka rere ko te ui makihoi

“he aha ahau e whakamānawatia ana mō ngā mahi e mahia ana i ia te rā, i ia te rā? He aha ka whakahōnoretia tēnei Māori nō Ngāi Tūhoe, he Mana Motuhake te kai? He aha ka whakahōnoretia tēnei Māori, he pononga nō te Kīngi Māori?”

– ka haere te pātai, ka haere te pātai. Nō reira, ehara i te mea i tōtika tana whakaae ki te tono nei, engari nā te kōrero a tana tama a Tamahou ana whakaaro kia whakaae ia ki te tono nei.

Nō reira, e Tā e! E tū koe i ō maunga whakahī, a Manawarū, a Maungapōhatu, a Panekire hei whakahīhītanga mā tō iwi Māori e mihi atu nei, e whakamānawa atu nei. Nōu i rongonui ai te kōrero “kia koi te matapunenga, kia maiangi te matapūihoiho – see the invisible, feel the intangible, do the impossible”.

“Kei hea te hōnore nui kē atu, tēnā i te whakaae o tō hoariri, he toa koe” – Tā William Te Rangiua (Pou) Temara, 2021

He tau hirahira te tau
He tau Ariki te tau
He tau pai te tau
Nō Pou Temara te tau

E ara, e Tā e!

Kāti, ko tā He Muka he whakaputa kōrero ki te reo Māori. Ko ngā tirohanga, whakaaro rānei kei roto i te tuhinga nei he mea whaiaro nō te tangata nāna te kōrero i tuhi. Ka mutu, kāore i te whakaatu i ngā whakaaro o, i ngā kōrero a, rānei, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, āna kaimahi, tana pae whakahaere, tana poari rānei, tae atu rā ki ngā tari, ngā pakihi rānei e whai pānga ana ki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, ahakoa te hononga, hāunga i ngā mea kua āta whakahuatia ake ai.  Ehara ēnei tirohanga, whakaaro, kōrero rānei i te mea whakaiti, whakahē rānei, i te iwi, i te hapori, i te rōpū, i te tari, i te pakihi, i te tangata rānei.