More than 30 students graduated Te Pōkaitara this weekend, a 12-month programme aimed at safeguarding the language and knowledge of Ngāti Kahungunu, and now they’re ready to head out and put their learning into practice.
A congregation of leaders, a party of esteemed chiefs who have attained success to retain the survival of the language and customs, and now the second intake of Te Pōkaitara have reached new horizons.
Programme lead Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod says he was overjoyed at the festivities of the graduation ceremony.
“E tumeke pai ana ahau i te tini o te tāngata i tae mai ki tēnei rā, i te huhua o ngā whānau, i ngā mātua, i ngā rangatira o te iwi. I konei te mahi a te tangata e haramai nei rātau, ki te whakanui i ā rātau mokopuna. Engari ki te titiro pea, he aha rā te mahi a Te Pōkaitara. koirā anō pea tētahi take i pērā ai te maha o te tangata i te rā nei.”
(I’m blown away by the amount of people who came out today, hundreds of families, parents, and leaders of the tribe. Here we saw the multitude of people in attendance to celebrate their children. But if we were to look at what is Te Pōkaitara all about, that’s probably one of the reasons why so many people came out today,) he says.
Supporters of the graduates gathered to warm the grounds of Waimārama Marae over the weekend and celebrate the newly announced graduates of this Ngāti Kahungunu-led course.
It’s a course that was named by this Māori language exponent Tā Tīmoti Kāretu and serves as a reminder to the students of the work that lies ahead.
“He huinga rangatira, nā Tīmoti tērā. Ko te tara o te maunga, he kupu anō tērā mō te rangatira. Ko te pōkai, he huihuinga. Nā reira nāna tērā ingoa ki a mātau. He huinga rangatira ēnei hai whakakīkī i ngā whāruarua i runga i ō rātau marae, i mua, i muri anō hoki.”
(It’s a gathering of chiefs, Tīmoti gave us the name. Te Tara o te Maunga is another word for a Chief, and Pōkai is a gathering. So he gave us that name. These are a group of leaders who will fill in the holes on their marae, in the front and out the back also.)
In recent years there have been three Māori development courses run by Ngāti Kahungunu, and Te Pōkaitara, remains the newest.
The hope is that the course breeds a specific type of person who can help revive their marae.
“Kua roa au e tohutohu ana i ēnei tauira me hoki rātau ki ō rātau marae. Me mōhio ki ngā mahi o muri me ngā mahi o mua, kia puta ai he autaia tāngata mō runga i ō tātau marae, nō te mea e mate ana ā muri, e mate ana ā mua i runga i ō tātau marae maha.”
(For a long time, I’ve instructed these pupils to return to their marae. They need to know and be adept with the work that goes on out the front and the back so when they come out of the course, they’re extraordinary on all of our marae, because both work and workers of the rear and the front across many of our marae are fading away.)
Dr Jeremy Tātere Macleod has spearheaded many language revitalisation projects over the years, namely Te Kura Reo o Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Reo ki Tua, all the way to this revered project which aims to tirelessly aid people adept in language and customs to reach a new level.
“Heoi anō te wāhi ki a au, i haramai au e rua tekau tau ki muri, ka kite au i tētahi wāhanga hai whakapiki ake i tō tātau iwi. Nō reira ka nui te hari o taku ngākau i tēnei kaupapa nō te mea kāre i te moumou i a au ngā akoranga mai i ōku anō tohunga, ōku anō kaumātua, me taku tūmanako kua paku kātata nei mātau ki tō rātau na taumata.”
(The area for me, when I came over 20 years ago, I could see there was a part that needed to be improved for our tribe. So I am overjoyed at this project because I know I haven’t wasted the lessons and teachings of my tutors and elders and I hope that we are even a little nearer to their standards.)