He kiriata ka whakamahana i te whatumanawa o ngā rangatahi Māori kua tipu ake i roto i te reo me te ahurea Māori.
Koia te whakaaro tuatahi e pupū ake ana i te kaiwhakaari hou nei, i a Hinerangi Harawira-Nicholas, nōna e tū ana i runga i te whāriki whero, i mua i te whakarewanga ake o te kiriata reo Māori hōu, o ‘Ka Whawhai Tonu’, i Kirikiriroa inapō.
Ka whai tēnei i te whakarewanga tuatahi o te kiriata ki te ao i Poihākena i te mutunga wiki ki muri.
16 tau te pakeke o Harawira-Nicholas (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pūkeko), he ākonga ia i Te Wharekura o Ruatoki, i te rohe o Mataatua. Ka whakaari ia i tētahi o ngā tino kiripuaki i te kiriata, ko Kōpū, he kauwaka. Koia tētahi o ngā rangatahi Māori maha i roto i te kiriata, he tuatahi kē te mahi whakaari, ā, he reo Māori katoa rātou.
“Ko te hiranga o te kiriata, he whakamahana i te whatumanawa o tēnā, o tēnā. Ngā rangatahi Māori e kaingākau ana ki te reo Māori, otirā te ao kiriata anō hoki,” hei tāna.
Hāunga rā te rerekē rawa atu o te ao hanga kiriata ki a ia, nā tōna mātau ki tōna ao Māori me tōna reo o Ngāi Tūhoe i ngāwari ai tāna mahi.
“Māmā noa iho ahau ki te kōrero i te reo Māori i roto i tēnei kiriata Māori, otirā ngā wheako kapa haka. Māmā noa iho te whakatinanatanga i aua āhuatanga me ēra momo āhuatanga.”
Ko te reo o te Māori ka ora, ake, ake, ake!
Ko te kiriata nei ka whakatinana i ngā kōrero tuku iho a ngā Māori whai pānga ki te riri i Orākau, i tutū ai i te Māehe o te tau 1864, hei kaupare ake i te whakaekenga poka noa a ngā hōia o te Karauna ki runga i te Māori i ngā pakanga whenua o Aotearoa.
Mai anō i tērā wā, ko ngā kōrero tuku iho a te pākehā mō taua riri, kua whānui kē te rangona.
E kī ana a Harawira-Nicholas, he taonga tēnei kiriata kia rongo ai ngā rangatahi Māori i ngā kōrero a ngā mātua tīpuna, otirā i te mana motuhake, i te mana tuku iho hei kawe ki tua.
“He momo āhua kei tēnā, kei tēnā tangata. Kei a ia tōnā ake mana. Ki ahau nei, e taea ana hoki ki te whakamana i ēnei mahi,” e ai ki a ia.
Ko te whakaaro matua mō tēnei kiriata ki a Harawira-Nicholas, ko te whakakotahi i te iwi Māori mā te reo me te ahurea. Ka kite te hunga mātakitaki i te whanaungatanga me te wairua kotahi e hāngai ana ki ngā wheako o ngā kaihaka me ngā kaiwaihanga i te kiriata.
“Teitei kahikatea, ka taea”
Ko te reo Māori te matapihi ki te ao Māori, ā, mā tēnei kiriata hoki e whakahau tonu i ngā rangatahi kia kaha ake ki te ako me te kōrero i te reo Māori.
“Ki ahau nei, tareka katoa e tātou ki te mahi i ēnei momo mahi. Nō reira, iti rearea, teitei kahikatea, ka taea,” te kī a Harawira-Nicholas.
Ka rongo hoki te hunga mātakitaki i te kaha o ngā mahi kapa haka i roto i te kiriata, ā, ka kite rātou i te hiranga o ēnei wheako hei whakamana i te reo me ngā tikanga Māori.
Ko te kaupapa matua o te kiriata nei ki a au, he whakaatu i te kaha o te iwi Māori ki te whakahou i ngā tikanga tuku iho mā te whakamahi i ngā toi hōu me ngā huarahi auaha.
He mihi nui ki ngā kaihanga me ngā kaihaka i te kiriata nei, nā rātou ngā kōrero i whakatinana, ā, nā rātou hoki te reo Māori i hiki ake ki ngā taumata tiketike nei.
Ka mutu, ko te hiahia nui, kia whai hua te kiriata nei hei rauemi mā te katoa e aro ana ki te reo me te mana Māori motuhake, ake, ake, ake!