I tēnei rā, maringa nui au ki te noho hei kaikōrero ki tētahi paewhiri-ā-ao i te taha o ētahi atu mana whakahaere iwi taketake i te hui taumata o Waves 2025 mō Ngā Reo Taketake, ki Ottawa, Kānata. He mea pōhiri au nā te Kaikōmihana Reo Taketake o Kānata ki te kaupapa nei, te hui taumata reo iwi taketake nui rawa atu kua whakatūhia. Tata ki te 3000 kiritaki e matapaki ana i te huarahi reo Māori kua hīkoitia e tō tātou whenua, i poho kererū ai au, i hoki mahara ai au—kaua mōku ake, engari mō te huarahi kua hīkoitia e te reo me ngā hapori i whawhai kia ora ai ia, kia tōnui, kia aronuitia puta noa i te ao.

Ko tētahi o ngā karere matua i puta i a au ko te hiranga o te noho māori o ngā reo taketake i roto i ō rātou whenua taketake. Ka kitea ana, ka rangona ana, ka whakahiapotia ana he reo i te ao tūmatanui, ka tūhono ia, kaua ki ōna kaikōrero taketake anake, engari anō hoki ki ngā kirirarau katoa. He piriti te reo, ehara i te ārai. Ko tāna he whāngai i te māramatanga, i te wairua whakahīhī, me te noho ngātahitanga.

E pāorooro ana tā tātou kaupapa reo Māori ki tua noa atu o Aotearoa. He pūrākau o te manawaroatanga, me te taumanutanga anō o te ahurea. Hoki atu, hoki atu, i rongo kōrero au i ētahi atu o ngā māngai taketake mō te whai wāhitanga atu o ā tātou whakaritenga ki te whakarautaki me te whakakaupapa here i te reo ki te whakaaweawe i a rātou ake mahi. Mai i ngā kura rumaki reo ki te ao pāpāho, mai i te whakamana i roto i te ture ki te whakamahinga i ia rā, kua noho te reo Māori hei mahere mō te whakarauoratanga. Ehara i te reo noa—he rangaihi hoki ia.

Heoi anō, ehara i te mea kāore he ātetetanga ki te kaupapa nei. I kōrero pono au mō ngā whakaaro o ngāi mokouki e mau tonu ana—ngā mea e kī ana kāore he take o ō tātou reo taketake, kāore he pānga ki te ao hou, kāore rānei he uara i waho i ō tātou hapori. He mahuetanga ēnei momo waiaro nō te manatāmitanga, inā hoki he nui te wā ko ngā reo tonu te ika i te ati. Ko tāku ki tēnei, he rerenga iti, he rerenga kaha: “E hē, manatāmi!” I noho hei tauāki puta noa i te hui taumata, i māia ai ētahi atu ki te tohe ki ngā whakaaro whakaiti me te taumanu anō i te rangatiratanga o ō rātou reo.

Heoi anō, i a au e whakanuia nei e  te ao mō te mana ārahi o tō tātou reo, kiriweti nei au ki te rongo i te kāinga, kua whakahau te Minita Mātauranga kia murua ngā kupu reo Māori i tētahi kohinga pukapuka tamariki. Ehara i te mahi kūare noa—e mārama ana te kite he mahi hei āta tō mai i te manatāmitanga ki te ao hou. Ko te reo Māori tētahi o ngā reo whaimana o Aotearoa New Zealand. E kī ana ngā rangahau he nui ngā hua o te reoruatanga me te reomahatanga ki te whakakaha i te tipu o te hinengaro tamariki. Mā te muru i ngā kupu reo Māori i ngā rauemi mātauranga, kei te whakakoretia ngā huapai o te kanorautangaā-reo ki ā tātou tamariki katoa, kei te takahi hoki i te ia o tō tātou tuakiritanga.

Kia mārama mai tātou, kei te kōrerotia ngā kupu reo Māori e 84 i roto i ngā pukapuka e 27. Kei noho ka kīa he waipuketanga whakapōraruraru i te tangata. He pōrangi hoki te kōrero a te Minita e kī ana he whakaritenga mana ōrite te whakakore i te reo Māori, he kore nō ngā kura Māori e whakaae kia whai wāhi te reo Pākehā ki ngā rauemi reo Māori. Rumakina ana a Aotearoa ki te reo Pākehā, e kore hoki ā tātou tamariki kura reo Māori e taea te karo. He mahi makihoi, he mahi kino hoki te whakamahi i ngā mahi whakarauora i tētahi reo matua hei rākau patu i taua reo tonu. Ka mutu, i nanu katoa au i te mea kāore te Minita i kī ka whakaputahia hoki ngā pukapuka katoa ki roto hoki i te reo Māori kia whai wāhi atu ngā tamariki katoa ki ngā pukapuka i roto i ngā reo e rua.

Ehara i te mea e whakaiti noa ana te whakatau nei i te koi o ngā kōhungahunga, i ngā pūkenga rānei o ō rātou kaiako; e takahi hoki ana i te aroha o ngāi Aotearoa ki te reo. E kī ana ngā rangahau i Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha (2023), ahakoa a ngāi Aotearoa kāore e kōrero Māori ana, kei tua o te 1000 kupu Māori kei te puna kupu e mārama ana ki a rātou. He āpitihanga hoki tēnei ki ngā kupu Māori maha kei roto kē i te  Papakupu o Oxford nā te mea kua horapa te whakamahinga i roto i ngā kōrero reo Pākehā a ngāi Aotearoa. Ehara tēnei i te take weteoro; he take kaikiri kē, ā, me whakamā ka tika.

He kōrero te wheako tauaro i puta i te rangi nei—te  whakamīharo o te ao me te murutanga i te kāinga. Kia kaua tātou e tuku kia makere ngā whanaketanga whakarauora i te reo Māori i ngā mahi matapura tōrangapū. Ehara tō tātou reo i te mea hei wehi; he taonga kē. Ka mutu, e ai ki taku kite i Waves 2025, he taonga e hiakai ana te hunga puta noa i te ao ki te whai hei tauira mā rātou.

Nā reira kia kaha tātou ki te kōrero kia māia, ki te wero i ngā mahi manatāmi o mua, o mohoa hoki, me te whakarite kia kaua noa ō tātou reo e tiakina, engari kia whakanuia hoki. I te mea, i ia wā ka puta te kōrero “E hē, mānatāmi,” kei te manaaki tātou i ngā kaikōrero o āpōpō.