To mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Ten One is publishing a series of stories about Police staff and their experiences of learning te reo, in both Māori and English. Scroll down or click here for the English translation.
Hei tohu i Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, kei te whakaputaina e Tekau Tahi ētahi rārangi kōrero mō ngā kaimahi Pirihimana me ō rātou wheako i a rātou e ako ana i te reo, i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā. Tēnā, pāwhiria i konei mō te whakamāoritanga Pākehā.
E mārama katoa ana te uaua ki te ako i tētahi reo hou. Engari, he pai ki ngā kaimahi o Tākaka tētahi wero, nō reira i whakatau rātou ka ako ā-tīma i te reo Māori.
Hei tā Tāriana Jonathan Davies: “I kaha te wahangū i te tīmatanga. Engari, nā te momo whakaakoranga tāruarua me te mahi tahi ki tā mātou e pai ai - pēnei i te kore waihō i te tangata ki muri - te take kua angitu.”
Kua tutuki i a rātou te akoranga reo Kaupae 1 a He Waka Kuaka mā Te Ataarangi - Te Tauihu-o-te-waka-a-Māui i Whakatū - he kaupapa whakaakoranga ā-hapori - , ā, kua eke ngā kaimahi e toru ki te kaupae 2. Kei roto i ngā akoranga rumaki ko ngā nohoanga 10 hāora te roa.
Hei tā Jonathan: “Kua matareka te noho tahi ki ērā atu kaiwhakauru nō te Poari Hauora o tō mātou rohe. Ka mutu pea te nui o te nohonga tahitanga, torutoru noa iho ngā wā ka pēnei nā te āhua o ā mātou mahi.
“Kua whakaakongia mātou e te akoranga ki te mihi, ki ētahi karakia me ētahi waiata ā-rohe e kaha ake tō mātou whai wāhi, te mārama ki ngā tikanga i a mātou e hāereere ana me ā mātou mahi, ā-pirihimana taiwhenua i ō mātou hapori.”
Kei te ako rātou i ngā whakatauākī ināianei - me ngā tini kōrero pēnei i te mihimihi, kōrero āhuareka, kōrero poroporoaki, kōrero tono waiwai anō hoki.
Hei tā Jonathan: “Me kauanuanu ka tika ki te ahurea Māori me ōna āhuatanga, tōna aroha ki te whenua me ō mātou nohonga hei kaitiaki.
“Mā te mōhio ki tō ūkaipō me ō tini kāwai whakapapa, mā te kaingākau i ā mātou tamariki me te mōhio ko rātou te anamata.
“Nō Itāria tō mātou kaiwhakaako a Jocelynne Bacci, engari, kua ākona e ia te reo mō ngā tau 20, ā, e whakaakotia ana ngā kaimahi ināianei.
“He pai ki ahau te ako me pēwhea te whakahua tika i ngā kupu, i ngā rerenga kōrero - ko te tūmanako kāore e Itāria te āhua o te whakahua. Ka pai ake te rongo, ā, he tohu whakamana kia kore e tīkaia te reo.
“Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu.”
TAPANGA KATOA: Nō te taha mauī, ka kitea a Kātipa Raymond Clapp rāua ko Robert Clarence; Kairapuhara Dean Schroder (kaimahi ō mua i Tākaka); Kui Laurelee Duff; Toihau Ā-Rohe Kaititiro Paul Borrell; rātou ko Tāriana Jonathan Davies. Kei roto: Kātipa Brenton Edwards. I tangohia tēnei whakaahua nō muri mai o te kohatanga o tētahi taonga ki a Laurelee mō āna mahi ratonga ki Ngā Pirihimana, pēnei i te noho ki ngā paewhiri mō ngā kaimahi hou i te rohe.
Tākaka team totally immersed
Tākaka staff at Onetahua Marae in Pohara, Golden Bay. Inset: Constable Brenton Edwards. See foot of story for full caption.
Learning a new language is always a bit daunting. But staff from Tākaka station enjoy a challenge, so all four recently decided as a team to learn te reo Māori.
“There was a lot of silence initially,” says Sergeant Jonathan Davies. “But the repetitive nature of the learning technique and the fact that the class moves along at whatever tempo works - ie, nobody gets left behind - seems to work well.”
They’ve completed Level 1 He Waka Kuaka Te Reo course through Te Ataarangi - Te Tauihu o te Waka a Māui in Nelson – a community-based learning programme – and three have moved on to Level 2. The courses involve 10 hour-long sessions of total immersion.
“The team has enjoyed the camaraderie, with the other course participants from our local DHB,” says Jonathan. “It’s been great to regularly get together as this seldom happens with the nature of our shiftwork.
“The course has taught us a basic mihi, a couple of karakia and local waiata so we can participate more fully and be more cognisant of tikanga when attending the wide variety of jobs we get to do in our communities as rural police officers.”
They are now learning about whakatauākī – Māori proverbs/sayings - and basic conversational items such as greetings, pleasantries, farewells and basic commands.
“There is so much to be admired about Māori culture, the way it treasures the land and acknowledges our role as mere kaitiaki,” says Jonathan.
“Knowing where you come from and where your ancestors come from, treasuring our tamariki in the knowledge that they are our future.
“Our kaiwhakaako/teacher Jocelynne Bacci is actually Italian but has been learning te reo for 20 years and now is teaching the staff.
“I’m particularly enjoying learning how to pronounce words and phrases correctly - hopefully not with an Italian accent. It just sounds better and it’s just a sign of respect not to butcher a language.
“Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu. Although it is small, it is greenstone.”