Kei te takiwā o te 3000 ngā reo taketake kei te pari o te rua o Mate. Ka tuhia e Rawinia Higgins, te Toihau o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, tētahi tuhinga whakaaro mō te tawhiti o tā tātau haere ki te whakahaumaru i te reo, ā, he roa tonu a raro.

He mea nanao i te moheni Sunday Magazine a Stuff, i te 6 o Pēpuere, 2023.

HE WHAKAARO: I uia au mō te āhua o te kīa ōku he toa reo Māori? He autaia ki a au te kupu "toa". Ka pihi ake ngā whakaaro mō tētahi tino toa e pakanga kōtonga ana, e ū ana ki ōna whakapono mō te hemo tonu atu. Ehara au i a Xena, i a Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, i tētahi kaiwhakatūtū, i tētahi kaiārahi Māori pēnei i a Hana Te Hemara, ā, ahakoa ko au te Toihau o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, he nui kē ake taku māharahara tēnā i taku tū hei "toa".

Kei hē mai koutou, nō Tūhoe me Airani ōku tīpuna, ā, he momo tuku ihotanga te pakanga mō ōku whakapono te take. Heoi, ko au hoki te kaiārahi i te Maihi Karauna (Te Rautaki Reo Māori a te Karauna). Ā, ahakoa e rere pai ana ngā mahi e ekea ai ngā taumata o te angitū hei te tau 2024, he roa tonu a raro. 

Engari e wairuatoa ana te toenga o te ao: ka mate ā-moa tētahi reo i tēnei ao i ia 40 rā. Mō ngā matamata huānga o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, e karawhiua ana te ora o ō rātau reo e te whakaaotanga, e te huringa āhuarangi me ngā huarere taikaha.

I te Tīhema, i haere ai au hei māngai mō Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa ki te rewanga o te Ohu mō te Ngahuru Tau o ngā Reo Taketake o te Ao, me te hui matawhānui o te Rūnanga Whakakotahi i ngā Iwi o te Ao, ki New York. Nāku ngā kāwanatanga o te ao i āki kia mahia e rātau tā tō mātou kāwanatanga i mahi ai i ngā tau 35 ki muri: manaakihia ō koutou reo taketake mā roto mai o te ture, ka whakamana ai hei reo ā-ture. Ki te titiro tātau ki te hīkoinga reo i tō tātau whenua, e mōhio nei tātou he mana nui kei roto i tā te kāwanatanga whakamahi i te ture.

Ko te māhorahora o te reo te whāinga a te Maihi Karauna, ā, ko te rere māori o te reo tōna pou whakawhirinaki. E tutuki ai tēnei, me kaingākau te reo Māori e ngā momo kirirarau katoa o Aotearoa, ā, me tautoko e rātou. Mā te whakamāori i te reo, ka āhei ō tātou hapori ki te kōrero i te reo i ngā wāhi katoa, ahakoa iti, ahakoa nui.

He rite tonu te whakatītina ōku i te mahi tahi a tēnā, a tēnā, puta noa i te motu kia ora ai te reo. E nui haere ana te whakamāori a ētahi whakahaere i te kōrerohia o te reo, kia noho pū ai ia i ngā mahi o ia rā.

Mēnā rānei he tohu, he mihi, he whakamāori, he waiata, he āhei rānei ki te kōrero Māori i a koe e hokohoko ana i Countdown. He wāhi tino nui tō te kite, tō te rongo me te kōrero hoki i tō tātou reo taketake, ki tā Aotearoa titiro ki tōna tuakiritanga ā-motu.

Ko te tau 2022 te tau o ngā huringa tau mō te reo Māori: kua 50 tau i te whakatakotoria o te petihana o te reo ki ngā tepe o te whare pāremata, kua 40 tau te pakeke o Te Kōhanga Reo me ngā hōtaka pouaka whakaata Māori, ā, kua 30 tau i te whai mana o te reo Māori hei reo ā-ture me te whakatuwheratanga o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.

E whakamīharo ana au ki te tawhiti o te haere i ngā tau 50 ka hori, heoi, ahakoa te upoko pakaru, ka whakamīharo hoki au ki te rite tonu o ētahi āhuatanga.

Ka aroha te mahi a ngā īmēra ka tae mai ki a au e mea ana me nui ake ngā mahi whakarauora i te reo. He nui kē atu ngā mea e kī ana he nui rawa ngā mahi, ā, me mutu te "whakatuanui i a rātau [ki te reo] ". Ka whiua mātau ki te whakapae e ngaukino ana mātau ki te tangata, he kaha nō mātou ki te akiaki i te tangata ki te ako i te reo, ā, ka rīria mātou mō te kore i whakaiti tūmatanui i te tangata mō te hē o te whakahua, me te rite tonu o te whakapae a ētahi nō mātou ngā hē a Siri, a Alexa, me Google Maps.

Nō reira e rikarika ana te ngākau ki te noho ki te pae o Toitū ki Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki hei te 26 o Māehe, ki te kōrero tahi me Tā Tīmoti Kāretu, te Toihau tuatahi o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, i aukatingia tana whakatairanga i ngā tūranga wātea ki te reo Māori i tētahi wā. He mahi taihara tērā i te tau 2023.

Ka pārekareka ki a au te kōrero tahi me te mātanga reo, me Pānia Papa, me ana mahi kia kore ai te reo e herea i te ao hurihuri nei. E rua ngā toa reo Māori, kotahi te kuia māharahara... ka māharahara taku tuhi me te kore e mōhio he aha hei kōrero māku... me te whai kia tika taku reo i mua i ngā mātanga o te reo...ka māharahara au i te nui o taku māharahara... ko te mutunga wiki o Waitangi tēnei, ā, hei tērā marama te pae o Toitū. Ka tāria pea aku māharahara ki te mutunga wiki e kainamu mai nei.