Kua paihere a Te Pouhere Taonga me Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i runga i tētahi whakaaetanga Mahi Tahi ki te whakatairanga me te whakarauora i te reo Māori, ā, mā te reo Māori, ka whakanuia ngā kōrero tuku iho o Aotearoa.

Ko tā Te Pouhere Taonga he whakatakoto tohutohu ki te kāwanatanga, ki te kāwanatanga ā-rohe me ngā kaipupuri whenua tae atu ki ngā iwi, hapū, whānau me ētahi atu ki te tautuhi, ki te whakamarumaru, ki te whakatairanga hoki i ngā wāhi tuku iho o Aotearoa. Ko tāna ko te whakarite i te whakamarumaru o ngā wāhi mātai whaipara tangata, ahakoa kua tautuhia, kua hopua kāore rānei, he whakahaere hoki i te 43 whenua tuku iho tāpua ā-motu. Hei tauira ko te Māngungu Mission kei te Hokianga, ki reira i tū ai te hainatanga nui rawa o Te Tiriti o Waitangi i te 12 Huitanguru 1840. Ko tētahi atu ko Te Waimate Mission i Te Tai tokerau, koia te whare tuarua tawhito rawa atu o Aotearoa, me ana kōrero whakahirahira o ngā hui tuatahi i waenga i te Māori me te Pākehā.

E mea ana ngā Kaiwhakahaere Matua a Andrew Coleman o Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga me Ngahiwi Apanui o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori he māori rawa te noho tahi a ngā whakahaere e rua.

“He koanga ngākau a Te Pouhere Taonga kia whai wāhi atu ki tēnei whakaaetanga Mahi Tahi,” te kī a Andrew Coleman.

“Ko te reo tuatahi o Aotearoa ko te reo Māori, ā, i te taha o ngā taonga tuku iho Māori, he matua ki te tuakiri ahurei o tēnei whenua. E tino hāngai ana tēnei whakaaetanga ki te wawata mātāmua o te Kaunihera Māori o te Pouhere Taonga mō ngā taonga tuku iho Māori – kei roto tēnei i te whakaputanga a Tapuwae.

“E ai ki ngā kōrero a te Tapuwae, ka whakatinana, ka whakamana hoki ngā wāhi tuku iho Māori i te hītori, i ngā tikanga, i ngā kōrero o nehe, i te ahurea me te tuakiri o ngā whānau, o ngā hapū me ngā iwi. Kei roto i ēnei ko ngā wāhi tapu, ngā wāhi rongonui, ngā wāhi tūpuna, ngā tūtohu whenua ā-iwi, ngā whenua ahurea me ngā āhuatanga tuku iho i hangaia. Mā ngā ingoa Māori o ngā wāhi e āwhina te taki kōrero, e tūhura hoki te tikanga,” e ai ki te heamana o te Kaunihera Māori o te Pouhere Taonga a Tā John Clarke.

Ki a Ngahiwi Apanui, ko te reo tō mātou hononga o neherā ki tēnei whenua atu ki te ao o nāianei.

“Ehara i te mea me tiaki noa iho tātou i ēnei wāhi tuku iho, me whakanui, me whakamahi, me wānanga me tautohe anō hoki. He pērā anō te reo Māori,” ki tā Ngahiwi.

“Mā te whakamahinga o te reo Māori i te taha o ō tātou kōrero tuku iho e āhei ai tātou ki te kite i tētahi taha anō o te tirohanga ahurea me te hono i a tātou ki ngā mahi o te tangata whenua o Aotearoa ki ā rātou mahi tapa ingoa, whakaputa kōrero paki me te nohonga whenua tae atu rā ki te hauhaketanga me te whakahaeretanga o āna rauemi.”

“He pou nui te reo Māori o te mahi tāpoi, tā tātou tino ahumahi hoko ki tai. Kāore he mea i tua atu i te reo Māori e kīia ai ‘kei Aotearoa koe’, he mea kaha tautoko te whakamahinga o ngā kupu Māori, o ngā kīwaha, o ngā whakataukī, otirā o ngā ingoa me ngā paki i te wheako tāpoi. Mā te reo Māori e rongo ai te tūturutanga o te wheako taketake, o te whakapā tūturu ki iwi kē me tā rātou hītori hoki.”

“Mā tēnei wheako ngā tāpoi ā-whenua, ā-ao hoki e whakatenatena te whakapātanga atu ki ngā momo pakihi tāpoi Māori katoa, he whakarite hoki i te ahurei o tētahi wheako tino Aotearoa rawa.”

“Kia hāngai te kōrero e titiro ana mātou ki te whakapikinga o te reo Māori i ngā takinga kōrero, i ngā tohu me te whakapikinga mātauranga a ērā e mahi ana i te ao tuku iho i te whakamahinga o te reo Māori ki te hāpai ake i te māramatanga me te hari o ngā manuhiri, ahakoa ko te reo Ingarihi te reo matua e whakamahia tonutia ana, ētahi atu reo rānei pēnā i te reo Hainamana.”

“He hītori reo Māori tā te whenua, te moana, ngā ngahere me ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa. Mā tā mātou whakaaetanga hou me te mahere reo Māori e marohihia ana e āwhina ki te tūhura i ēnei, e whakapiki hoki i te rēhia, i te harikoa o ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa, otirā o ngā manuhiri ki ō tātou taonga tuku iho.”