Anton Matthews.
Ko Siena Yates kei te tīmata noa i tana haerenga reo, e toro atu ana i ētahi tohutohu me ētahi whakaaro o ētahi o ngā toa i Ngā Tohu Reo nā Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i whakahaere i te tau kua huri.
E kōrero atu nei ia ki a Anton Matthews e pā ana ki te mahi whakatupu tamariki kōrero Māori me te whakahaere pakihi reorua — me te wawata kotahi kei roto.
Inā whakaaro ake ki te momo o te tangata e hāpai ana i te whakarauora reo Māori, ka kite tonu i te momo rongonui koia rānei i ngā whare wānanga o te motu. Ko wai ka whakapono ka tutuki mā tētahi toa hoko i te ika me te marara rīwai.
Āna, kua puta haurongo atu te kōrero mō Anton Matthews i waenga i te iwi kōrero Māori. Nāna tonu tōna whare hoko ika me te marara rīwai i whakamāori ake, i Wigram, i Ōtautahi, ko tana koha iti tēnei ki te whakatangata whenua mai i te reo Māori.
He mea whakahaere a Fush nā Anton rāua ko tana hoa wahine, arā, ko Jess, me tana tuahine, arā, ko Māia. Koinei tētahi o ngā wharekai ruarua o Aotearoa kei te tuku ratonga reorua, wairua Māori nei, āpiti atu ki tētahi rārangi kai reorua.
Nō mai anō i te tau 2018 he whakataka kai ki te reo Māori te mahi ā ngā Matthews — he whakaritenga nā Anton i runga i te āmaimai anō. “I te kaha mataku mātou, mea pono, i te meatanga atu. Ka nui te āwangawanga kei noho tawhiti atu te iwi, kei ohooho mai ngā whakaaro o kaikiri huna mā.”
Engari nui kē atu te reka mai o te iwi, koia ka whakaritea atu e Anton, e Jess rātou ko Māia me tū tētahi hui i te wharekai tonu mō te hunga tauhou ki te ako i te reo Māori. He utu-kore. Hiamo katoa i te ekenga mai o te 3,000 o te iwi ki runga i a rātou.
“Ko te kupu nui a te hapori: ‘Hika, me waka eke noa ka tika — tēnā rānei?’ Kore rawa au i whakaaro ka aronui mai te tangata, ka mutu ki Ōtautahi tonu. Ka riro ana te kupu i te ao pāpāho — ko wai ka hua ka mōhio he tino kaupapa ka puta ake ki konei rawa — nō konei te whawhatinga mai o te iwi.”
Nō te ekenga nui mai o te iwi ka whakaritea ki tētahi wharenui o Te Kura Tamatāne o Ōtautahi, ko tō Anton kura o mua. He rau tāngata i eke ki reira, ka nui te rikarika ki te ako. Ka haere ana ngā wānanga, ka haere ana ngā haerenga tāpoi 10 o Te Waipounamu, ka haere ana ngā akoranga reo Māori poto rawa, rua hāora noa nei a Anton. “I tū ēnei kaupapa i roto i ngā tāone Pākehā tūturu ake nei — engari waipuke tonu mai ana ngā tāngata.”
I whānau mai a Anton i Ōtautahi, ā, ko tana tamarikitanga “he kī i te aroha. He whare kāinga ora i te nui o te āhuru me te ranea o te kai”. Ko tōna whakapapa Māori (ko Te Rarawa, ko Te Aupōuri), heke mai i tana pāpā, arā, ko Hector, ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o te hauora Māori and Pacific Health ki Te Poari Hauora ā-Rohe o Ōtautahi. Ko tana māmā, arā, ko Heather, he Pākehā. He kaiako hoki e mahi ana i roto i tētahi akomanga reorua.
He mea ako te reo Māori e ōna mātua i tō rāua tai pakeketanga, i tino mārama ai ki te uaua o te ako i tētahi reo hou ki te pakeke. Ahakoa tō rāua aroha nui kia kōrerotia nuitia te reo Māori ki ā rāua tamariki — ki a Anton, ki a Māia, ki te pōtiki ki a Connor — i mōhio anō rāua he tokanga iti noa rā. Kia tangata whenua rawa ai te reo Māori ki roto i ā rātou tamariki, kāore i kō atu, me rūmaki rātou ki te reo Māori.
Nō konei ka whakarite atu rāua “kia māia, kia tū rangatira tonu” ki te tuku i a Anton me ana tāina ki te kōhanga reo me te kura kaupapa. I te tau 1995, ki tā Anton, “he rerekē tēnā mō Ōtautahi — he mea mahi tonu e rāua ahakoa ngā whakatakē a ētahi, Māori atu Pākehā mai.”
“Engari, i tū rangatira tonu, i ū pono rāua, kīhai i tuku i te aroha kia memeha noa. Nōku te māringanui, nā tērā i matawhānui atu ai taku aro ki ngā taonga kei aku ringa anō kīhai hoki i aronuitia i taku tamarikitanga — te reo, ngā tangihanga, ngā pōwhiri, ngā karakia o te ata, te tupu māori mai i roto i ngā tikanga Māori. Mā te titiro whakamuri, pā kau ake te aroha ki ēnei taonga katoa kei aku ringaringa.”
Heoi, i ngoikore haere a Anton nō tana kakenga ki te hai kura. Ki Te Kura Tamatāne o Ōtautahi, hei tāna, “Kua āhua waiho atu taku Māoritanga ki te kuaha kua ako kē hei Pākehā kē.”
Nō te taetanga atu o Anton ki te whare wānanga, nō te whāwhātanga atu ki ngā kaupapa akoranga Iwi taketake me te reo Māori, katahi rawa ka mōhiotia ai te nui o te ngaro o te reo Māori i akona mai i tōna itinga. Koia e whakapau kaha nei ki te whakaora ake anō.
Ā, koinei te āhua o tana mahi e horahia atu nei, me mau ko te reo Māori te tauihu o tōna ao. I tua atu i tēnā e mahi ana ia mō te hunga pēnei i a au nei, kāhore i rite tahi ki a ia te māringanui ki te whai wāhi atu ki ngā kōhanga reo, ā, tae noa atu ki ngā kura.
“Ko te kupu tika pea, mā tētahi kua tupu mai i roto i te kura kaupapa, nōna ngā pokohiwi tika ki te amo i te kaupapa reo Māori: Tika hoki, ko koe te mea waimarie i ēnā mea. Ko te pātai anō, he aha te mea ka pahawa i a koe? Nā, kua whai tamariki ināianei, rongonui ana tō ingoa, kua tai pakeke ake, kua whai reo tai whakaawe anō.
“Āe rānei, ka noho noa nei i tēnei take? Ka kuhu atu rānei ki te hapori ki te whakataka atu i ngā kai o te mātauranga i whāngaia ai koe nō te itinga mai?”
Mō te hunga kāore i te mōhio, kei pōhēhē he mea tīmata ēnei mahi hāpai ō reo Māori utu-kore i a Fush. Heoi, he mea tīmata kē mai i a Anton rāua ko Jess, i piri rāua i te tau 2008, ka whānau mai tā rāua mātāmua, arā, ko Te Ariā Aroha.
Ka 23 tau a Anton, pērā tahi ngā whakaaro o te tini noa atu, ka oti i a ia te whakatau ka kōrero i te reo Māori anake ki ana tamariki — “ka mau tonu mai anō i te rā whānau o taku tamaiti taea noatia te rā e whiwhi ai ki tana raihana hautū waka, arā me 16 tau. Inā tae ki reira, kua oti ngā mea katoa o tōna ao te whakakōrero atu ki a ia. Mai i te putanga mai o te rā tae noa ki te tōreretanga. Pai tū pai hinga, hui ora, hui mate, kaupapa rerekē atu, rerekē mai.”
Kāore a Jess i kōrero Māori i tērā tāima, engari nā te āwhina a Anton ka kotahi rāua ki te hāpai i ngā mahi, ki te ako tahi i te haerenga kotahi. Kua reo tangata whenua mai ia ināianei. Ko Anton hoki, i whakawhānui tonu atu i tana mōhio ki ngā kupu kīhai i aro i a ia, “pēnei me te kī atu, ‘me muku te kumu.”
“I kaha whakamahia te papakupu Māori ā-ipurangi i aua rā! E, kei te pērā tonu — e kore e mutu tēnei mea te ako.” He nui anō ngā māramatanga ka mau mā te whakarongo kau atu ki ngā hoa kōrero Māori, ki ngā whanaunga, ki ngā mātua anō e kōrero Māori ana ki ā rātou tamariki.
Heoi ko tētahi mate, he ao reo Pākehā kei waho atu i te whare, i te kāinga o ngā tamariki. Whare hokomaha atu, wharekai mai, ao Tīwī atu, ao Reo irirangi mai. Koia mō te rima tau i te tīmatanga, “he rite ki te hāmama tara ā-whare”. Ka kōrero Māori atu rāua ki ngā tamariki, ka kōrero Pākeha mai ngā tamariki.
Nō te haeretanga rā anō o Te Ariā Aroha rāua ko Mana Ariki ki te kura, tahi ka nui atu te aroha ki te reo. Ahakoa rā, ka aue tonu te ngākau i te mōhiotanga e whakamā ana ngā tamariki ki te kōrero Māori ki waho atu i te kura me te kāinga, e toru e whā tau noa ō rāua pakeke.
I hiahia a Anton rāua ko Jess ki te whakawhānui atu i te ao e noho ora mai ai a rāua tamariki — ā, i Ōtautahi, he mahi uaua. Koirā te take i puta ai te whakaaro ki a rātou kia huri i a Fush hei wharekai reorua.
“Kia kitea ai e aku tamariki he reo mana te reo Māori, kia whakamārie rātou ki te noho māori ki a rātou. Kāore i pai te take ki a au, ka puta atu ana rātou i te kāinga, ka rongo rangirua o rātou wairua, me noho atu te Māori ki te kuaha, me tangata kē atu rānei ka kuhu atu. Ki te whakapai noa i te kanohi. Kāore au i pai ki tēnei mahi mā aku tamariki, he mea rongorongo kē nōku i te kura tuarua, ā, he mahi patu wairua. ”
Ināianei, kei te takiwā o te 90 ōrau te nui o te kōrerotanga i te reo Māori i waenganui i Te Ariā Aroha me Mana Ariki ki a Anton. Ā, taihoa ake, he uri hou ki te whānau, arā, ko Kōtuku Rerenga Tahi, ko te mātāmuri kua whānau ake i te marama, koia hoki ka hono tahi me te whānau ki tēnei rerenga.
Kua whai wāhi anō hoki ngā tuākana ki ngā wānangatanga me ngā torotoronga a tō rātou pāpā, kua kitea e rātou ko te tini rau tāngata e rārangi haere mai ana ki te ako ki ngā akoranga māmā, “he kai penupenu te rite mā ēnei tamariki”.
“Hei tāku, kāore e taea te whakaaro ki te nui o te mana tuakiri, o te mana rangatira kua oti i tēnā te whakatō ki roto ki te tamaiti. He iwi rangatira. Kei te mōhio anō he kawenga rangatira tō rātou kawe haere, ā, me te mōhio hoki ko wai anō rātou. He iwi tino mōhio ki te kōrero Māori ahakoa haere ai rātou ki hea, nā, ko tō rātou momo tērā. Koinā noa iho āku i wawatahia ai mō rātou.”
Kua oti i a au te rapu whānui i te kōrero, ko te kōrerotanga i te reo Māori mō ia rā tētahi tikanga e ora ai te reo Māori. Kei te puta ngā kōrero mō te pai me te tika ka taka ana ki te rā e ora ana te reo Māori i roto i ngā mahi whakahaere hoko, ritenga pakihi huri noa i te whenua.
I ngā rangi tata nei, kātahi anō au i whakapono mā tēnei e huri ai te ao. Engari ko Fush te whakatinanatanga. Mā te whānui o te horopaki pai me te whānui o te whai wāhi atu ka mau, ka ora te reo Māori.
Ko te whāinga e whai ake nei o Anton ko te hao mai i ētahi atu pakihi ki te takahi i te ara nā Fush i whakatauira mai. Kua kitea ngā hua pai o te reo Māori i roto i ngā mahi pakihi o Fush. Kei te nui te hiahia mai o te iwi, hei tāna, engari kāore e nui ana ngā rawa.
“Ko tō mātou hiahia kia kitea e ētahi atu pakihi te mana o te hāpainga i te reo Māori — inā koa ko ngā pakihi Māori. Ka kitea ana, ka whiwhi hoki i te mahi, nā ngā momo pakihi tini noa atu pēnei i a au, inā hoki ka tere paitia tō kaupapa, ka tere tautokona atu e mātou.”
E kōrero ana ia mō ngā whare moni, ngā whare hokomaha, tae atu hoki ki ngā pae kōrero pērā i E-Tangata. “Ina pānuitia ngā kōrero, te āhua nei he mea whakahāngai atu ki te hunga pēnei i a au. Koinā taku hiahia he mea kua waihangatia mai ko au tonu tana kaupapa”.
I riro i a Fush, te wharekai nō te whānau o Anton Matthews, te tohu pakihi i tautokona e te pūtea a Te Taurapa Tūhono, ki te hui tuku tohu i te tau 2019 o Ngā Tohu Reo Māori nā Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i whakahaere. He mea oti tēnei hōtaka nā te pūtea tautoko a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
Ko Siena Yates (nō Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, me Ngāti Kurī), he kaihaurapa kōrero kei Tāmaki e noho ana, ā, i mahi rā hoki mō Stuff me te Hērora o Nū Tīreni. I whānau mai ia i Mōrena engari pakeke ake ia i Te Puke i Te Moana a Toi.
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