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Te Reo Regeneration[1]
Language has been described as ‘a key component of culture. It is the primary medium for transmitting much of culture…[2]’, And it is from this transmission that we gain insight into the way that the practitioners of the language see the world around them[3]. Each word carries with it an intimate knowledge of the world and provides further indications of the world-views that are inherent in the particular culture. Te Reo Mäori is no exception.
Prior to contact with Europeans, and for some time afterwards, Te Reo Mäori was the central form of communications within Aotearoa, the dominant language, and was is no danger of ‘dying out’. Even those people from other countries who decided to live here on these shores gained proficiency in the language so they could share in the interactions of daily life. But things have changed!
A shift from the centralised life of our tüpuna to the urbanisation and ‘pepper-potting’ policies of successive Crown initiatives have created a situation where the language that once was the only form of communication heard in Aotearoa is now but a language that has become ‘endangered’ to use the metaphorical, on the verge of dying out. It has become ritualised and put on a pedestal, referred to as ‘a taonga’, something to be protected.
The focus of this note is to take Te Reo Mäori down from the pedestal and attempt to get people to treat it as a ‘taputapu’, a tool, rather than a taonga or treasure that is put away in the cupboard until a special occasion. The survival of the language and all it encapsulates requires this to happen. If it does not, then the prophets of doom will be right, the language will, like the moa, disappear into the pages of history.
Each of us has stories about why the language has come to the state that it is in. Initiatives that began during the times of the missionaries with the establishment of schools have borne fruit and now they been taken up by Crown agencies. The systematic destruction, for that is what it is, of the culture and the language that describes it has been going on for many years, and there is no end in sight. The Crown puts forward the ideas of how important the Mäori language is to New Zealand, yet still refuses to acknowledge the right to have it equal to other languages heard in Aotearoa. Even Samoan has more curriculum documents than Te Reo Mäori, and in fact was developed before the Reo one!
So, why battle so hard for the regeneration of the language? Why not let it go the way of the Moa? It is because our language carries our knowledge and understanding. It provides expressions that, only by being a part of the culture and having an intrinsic link to the values and images that lie within the words are unique and put forward a way to look at the world. It gives an extra dimension to the description of the environment that surrounds us and allows us to be a part of that environment. To lose that means that we lose yet more of our own world-view, and the world is a little less colourful for it.
The following table provides a simple framework from which to begin a language regeneration plan. The labels represent a number of issues that should be thought about when creating a plan so that there is a simple ‘fact sheet’ for those who may be encouraged to participate. The following headings are explained as follows:
Finding: This is where the findings of the field research are placed. This then sets the place or foundation for the work that is going to commence in the plan. Without this, it is difficult for others to understand why they are doing something, especially if it is going to take a ‘long time’ to regain what has been lost.
Modern judgements must be left to the side when viewing this piece of information. There have been a number of ‘impacts’ on the people that have caused the state that the findings are indicating, and although some of these are common knowledge but there can be others lurking beneath the surface.
Initiative: This is the actual ‘meat in the sandwich’ so to speak. It is the programme or steps that each person has come up with to reverse or at least stall the decline in the language. When an initiative is stated in clear, concise language, everyone begins the buy-in process.
An important thing to remember when looking at the initiatives is the various resources available to carry out the initiative. It is not good practice to plan for weekly classes when the people are scatter all over the world; or another favourite that comes up, have kaumätua teach the whänau at home on the marae. People forget that the kaumätua are usually elderly, and tire easily, besides they have probably been trying to get people involved ‘mai rä anō’ without too much success so will be a bit reluctant.
Kaupapa: This is the reason behind it, the theoretical foundation for choosing that particular initiative. Each person has an idea of what may or may not work, and they have a thought about why it may be successful. By sharing it with the participants, there again is a buy-in from them and the plan of action becomes a little bit stronger.
Expected outcome: Like all plans there must be a simple outcome to the work. It is no good having a plan that has no end in sight. By providing a future statement to the participants, that they can accomplish, it is more likely that they will stay to the end of the project.
Performance: This is the most important aspect for any plan. There needs to be some sort of measurement made as to the success or not of the project. There should be specific times when a measurement is taken of the initiative so that if circumstances arise where the achievements are outstripping the plan, it can be changed, and if it is not working, adjustments can be made with the least amount of fuss
Finding / Initiative / Kaupapa / Expected Outcome / PerformanceThere are no speakers or kaikaranga to man the paepae / Run Monthly Whaikōrero Wänanga / Learn the tikanga and kawa of the marae from the people who uphold it / A Puna Kōrero will be created / Headcount at 3, 6 and 9 months to see how it is going
Run Monthly Karanga Wänanga / Learn the tikanga and kawa of the marae from the people who uphold it / A Puna Roimata will be created / Headcount at 3, 6 and 9 months to see how it is going
Provide tapes and transcripts to participants to practice at home / Learn at your own speed / The level of eloquence will rise / Measured at the wänanga
No speakers of the language under the age of 30 / Provide people with simple word books that they can read to, and with, their children / Intergenerational learning creates an atmosphere whereby each are building their own vocabulary and developing together / The level of speakers will rise. / 3 monthly checks on the level of the language, and its depth
These are just simple examples that provide an idea of what can be done to assist in the regenration of Te Reo Mäori within the whänau and hapü. The list can be extensive as it is limited only by the amount of work that each participant wants to put forward. But, there are also dangers lurking behind the scene, and it is to those that we will look now.
Like any programme, when it first starts off, everyone is excited, and all want to be a part of the ‘show’. This is natural and should be encouraged, but the thing to remember is that on average, 50% of the participants will fall off the wagon before the end of the third session. It is usually put down to work commitments, whanau commitments or some other such reason. It can be discouraging to the organisors, and planners, and in a number of cases, the discouragement leads to a closing down of the initiative. If at all possible, this should not happen. It should be kept in mind that our language was slowly but surely stripped away from us, not overnight, but by continuous barrage and subterfuge, so it is going to take just as long if not longer to get it back. We are fighting on two fronts, the Crown and their agencies on one side, and our own people on the other. The psychological damage that has been wrought upon our people is immense but with patience and steadiness, change can be achieved and a newfound strength can be captured.
The last area that is not on the matrix but is very important for the success or otherwise of the regeneration plan is the source of funding to firstly begin the strategy, and secondly, maintain the programmes across time. Learning anything takes time, and in regards to ourt language, it can be very expensive, regardless of wishing otherwise. When we use whänau, especially those in the käuta and kaumätua, thoughts need to be given to the expenses that they all incur. It is okay to say that they should be doing it for ‘koha’ or ‘aroha’ but the reality of today’s society is that everyone is on a limited budget, and although the aroha may be great at the beginning, after a while the aroha can be stretched beyond what would be considered ‘tika’.
As an aside, it has always amazed me to hear people say that ‘they should be doing it for aroha’ yet in the same breath state how much they have paid a stranger to do the same thing. If payment is fgiven to a stranger, surely it makes more sence to pay our own so that each person is developed and looked after, and the money still remains in the hands of the whänau.
In conclusion, we now have an idea about why we need to regenerate our language, we know how to measure the language within our whänau and hapü and we have a framework on which to base that regeneration. The next step is up to us. Do we pick up the challenge or do we leave it for somebody else because it is too hard…
Ko tatou ngä kaitiaki o te oranga mō tatou, haere ake nei
Mike Paki
Otaki
30 March 2007
List of Information Sources
Oral Sources
Ruwhiu, E. H.
Kaiwhakaako
Iwi & Hapü Studies
Private Discussions at Te Wänanga o Raukawa
2005 – 2007
Selby, M
Kairangahau, Kaihautü
Poumanawa Mätauranga Whakaakoranga
Various lectures at Te Wänanga o Raukawa
Last being 25th April 2006
Written Sources
Baker, C
Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism
Clevedon Press
1993
Hohepa, M. K.
Hei Tautoko i Te Reo: Mäori Language Regeneration and Whänau Bookreading practices
PhD Thesis
University of Auckland
Auckland
1999
Moonhawk Alford, D
Nurturing a Faint Call in the Blood: A Linguist Encounters Languages of Ancient America
Article written for
http://www.enformy.com/alfordIndex.htm.
Last accessed 02/07/2006
Nicholson, R
Maori Total Immersion Courses for Adults in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A Personal Perspective Chapter 8 (pp. 107-120),
Effective Language Education Practices and Native Language Survival
Edited by Jon Reyhner. Choctaw, OK: Native American Language Issues.
1990
Reyhner, J
Some Basics of Indigenous Language Revitalization
Revitalizing Indigenous Languages,
Edited by Jon Reyhner, Gina Cantoni, Robert N. St. Clair, and Evangeline Parsons Yazzie
Northern Arizona University.
Flagstaff, Arizona:
1999
Te Puni Kokiri & Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Mäori
Te Rautaki Reo Mäori: The Mäori Language Strategy
The Ministry of Mäori Development
Wellington
2003
[1] The word regeneration has been used here because of a statement found with the PhD thesis of Margie Hohepa. Her explanation of why she did not use the word ‘revitalisation’ had such an impact that I have decided to use this definition as well. For further information see Hohepa (1999) pp 45-6
[2] Saville-Troike, M. (1976), pg. 45
[3] NZ Parliamentary Library (2000) pg.1