Ngā reo irirangi Māori te reo tuitui i ngā iwi o te motu.
Kua tata ki te 40 tau te kaupapa nei e kōkiritia ana, engari he aha tana tūranga i roto i ngā whanaketanga matihiko o te wā?
He tā Matai Smith, Tumu Whakarae o Tūranga FM, ko ngā reo irirangi Māori tētahi tino huarahi e rongo ai te whakaaro o ngā hapori Māori.
“Ko te reo irirangi [te] ara tōtika ki te hapori. He nui ngā whanaunga o te wā kāinga kei te tūhono mai ki a mātau.”
“Iwi Māori radio, I believe, has been completely central to the revitalisation of te reo Māori,” te kī a Matthew Tukaki, Tumu Whakarae o Radio Waatea.
Hei tāna anō, ahakoa te ao matihiko, he uara nui tō ngā reo irirangi Māori.
“I still think [iwi radio is] extremely relevant because we are still able to get to places and people’s homes that the internet can’t get to.”
“Until you turn those frequencies off, we still have a message to bring.”
Te hītori o ngā reo irirangi Māori
The first iwi radio station started in 1988—Te Reo Irirangi o Te Ūpoko o Te Ika in Wellington. There are now 21 iwi stations nationwide, with Te Reo Irirangi o Pare Hauraki (Ngā Iwi FM) celebrating its' 35th year.
The station’s chairman, Mike Baker, reminisces on its' humble beginnings at the old Paeroa movie theatre.
“Mō mātau o Te Reo Irirangi o Pare Hauraki, [i tīmata] mā te mihini whakapāoho, mā te mahi ā-ringaringa, tae rawa atu ki te whakatū i ngā pou irirangi ki ngā maunga kōrerorero.”
The station has a team of seven staff, with a focus on upskilling the next generation of Māori broadcasters.
“Ko te kaupapa matua o tā mātau reo [irirangi], kia rongo ai te reka o tōna reo ki ōna takiwā katoa.”
Minimal funding for iwi stations
E ai ki a Tukaki, ahakoa te kounga o ngā mahi, he maramara pūtea noa kua tukuna ki ngā teihana Māori i roto i ngā tau.
“One of the big challenges is always gonna be funding - a lot of our iwi stations are doing things on the smell of an oily rag and that’s because their approach is more about manaakitanga and aroha.”
Ko Waatea tētahi o ngā teihana kua tīmata ki te wherawhera ki ngā pae pāpāho rerekē, pēnei ki ngā pae pāhopori.
“We need assistance and support to transition to these new platforms.”
Ngā whanaketanga o te ao pāpāho
Kua rima tau a Smith e noho ana hei ūpoko mō Tūranga FM.
Kua 30 tau hoki ia e takatū ana i te ao pāpāho, nā, kua tōtō mai i ana wheako ki roto i ngā mahi reo irirangi.
“Kua meatia wētahi kāmera ki roto i te taiwhanga kia pai ai tā te kaiwhakarongo, mātakitaki hoki i a mātau.”
Ka hoki mahara atu ki te wā o Huripari Gabrielle i te tau 2023, me te hiranga o ngā reo irirangi Māori hei kawe i ngā karere ohotata.
“Those old AM frequencies are fundamentally still important, because, as we witnessed through Cyclone Gabrielle, we are ourselves and emergency broadcasters,” te kī a Tukaki.
Ā, hei tā Smith, e kore e taea te karo i ngā whanaketanga matihiko o te wā.
“Kei konei tonu ngā tāngata pūmau me te kī mai—he reo irirangi tēnei me mau tātau ki ngā mātāpono o te reo irirangi Māori, engari me pēnei au, a taihoa—kua oma kē te hōiho.”
“Ko taku whakapae, arā noa atu ngā mahi hangarau ka ara mai a ngā rangi e tū mai nei.”
