Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

Mai i te tau 1769 ka tīmata te pāhekoheko o te iwi Māori ki ngā manene tuatahi kia tae mai ki ō rātou whenua. I te tīmatanga ko ngā tauiwi tāne e tūhura ana i te whenua, i muri ko ngā kaipatu tohorā, ko ngā kaipatu kēkeno nō Ūropi me Amerika ki te Raki, nāwai rā ko ngā mihinare. I heria mai hoki ko ngā reo rerekē, hangarau rerekē me ngā whakaaro rerekē i hāpaitia e te iwi Māori ina hiahiatia e rātou.

Nō te tūtakitanga tuatahitanga o te Māori me tauiwi, ko te reo Māori tonu te reo whakawhiti. I whakamahia whānuitia i ngā huinga pāpori, i ngā huinga whakapono, i ngā mahi hokohoko, i ngā mahi tōrangapū i waenga i te iwi Māori, otirā, i waenganui i te Māori me te Pākehā.

He ngāwari noa iho te whakamana i te hangarau hou mēnā e hono ana ki ngā taputapu e taea ana te pā ā-ringa. I te Māori e whakamahi ana i ngā kai hou, i ngā taputapu, me ngā taonga whawhai i ō rātou oranga, i panoni rātou i ngā kupu Māori tawhito. Ko ngā kupu maha mō ngā momo pū Pākehā (musket) i tīmata ki te pūmua ‘pū’, nā te mea he rite te āhua o te pū ki ngā taonga pūoro hau, inā rā ētahi: pūkaea, pūtātara, pūtōrino. I ētahi wā kua whakawhitia te kupu reo Pākehā - pēnei me te miere (he kupu miel nō te reo Wīwi mō te honey), parāoa (flour/bread) me te pepa (paper).

He matatini kē atu te tahuri ki whakapono kē. Ko ngā mihinare te hunga i tae tuatahi mai ki Aotearoa. Ko tētahi o ngā kauhau tuatahi i whakapuakina i te tau 1814, ko te whakamāoritanga tērā a Ruatara i te kauhau Kirihimete a Samuel Marsden i te kauhau mō Ruka 2:10 (mō te whānautanga mai o Ihu Karaiti). Rua tau i muri mai, ka whakatuwheratia te kura mihinare tuatahi i Hohi (Oihi) i Pēwhairangi, he Māori, he Pākehā hoki ngā ākonga.

I ako ngā mihinare i te reo Māori e taea ai te rongopai te hora. Arā ngā taunakitanga o te Māori e pūmau ana ki ngā ariā o te Paipera Tapu, i kitea atu ngā hononga o ōna tuhinga kāwai whakaheke o te Paipera ki ngā whakapapa tipuna, o ngā parable ki ngā kupu whakarite, o ngā inoi ki ngā karakia tūturu Māori. Tērā hoki te whakaaro ko te Whakapono tētahi o ngā āhuatanga nunui i heria mai ai e tauiwi, ā, he painga tō te hāpai i ōna kaupapa.

Ko Ruatara e whakawhiti ana te kauhau a Te Mātenga ki te reo Māori i te rā o te Kirihimete 1814.
Alexander Turnbull Library; Tohutoro: B-077-002. He pikitia totoka nā Jack Morgan

I tere tā te Māori ako i te tuhi me te pānui, me te pārekareka anō. He hononga nui tō te pānui me te tuhi ki te hāhi, nā te mea, i te ako te mihinare i te Māori ki te pānui, i te ako te Māori i te mihinare ki te kōrero ki te tuhi hoki i te reo rangatira.

I te korenga o te reo Māori i tuhia i mua, me mātua waihanga tikanga tuhi mō te reo Māori. Ko ngā tikanga tuatahi he mea mahi ngātahi e tētahi tokorua rangatira o Ngā Puhi, (a Hongi Hika rāua ko Waikato) me Thomas Kendall, he mihinare i Rangihoua. I te tau 1820, i haere rātou ki Kemureti, ki Ingarangi ki te mahi tahi me Ahorangi Samuel Lee. Ko te hua ko te pukapuka A grammar and vocabulary of the language of New Zealand.

I Aotearoa, i te kaha tonu te iwi Māori ki te ako i te pānui me te tuhi. Me te aha, he pūkenga nui te tuhi me te panui e piki ai te mana - he nui te whakahīhī o ngā rangatira o te raki mō te kaha o ā ratou tamariki ki te pānui me te tuhi. I raru ngā kaitā tuhinga ki te whakaputa tuhinga i te kaha o te hiahia, ā, ko te nuinga o ngā tuhinga, he tuhinga whakapono.

I mau te reo i ngā uri maha i te taetae mai i Ūropi, he maha hoki ngā huarahi ako. I ako ngā mihinare i te reo; i hopukina noatia te reo e ā rātou tamariki, inā hoki, e tipu tahi ana me te iwi Māori. Ka mārena ētahi kaipatu tohorā, me ētahi kaipatu kēkeno i ngā wāhine Māori, i mahi rānei ki ngā hapori Māori, nā konā i ako noa ai i te reo Māori.

Ko te reo Māori te reo whakawhitiwhtii mō te haurua tuatahi o te rautau 19, ahakoa te reo ruatanga o ētahi o te iwi Māori i mua i te 1840.