TIHEI MAURIORA!

Mana (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 6, 15 September 1977, Page 1

TIHEI MAURIORA!

E nga hau e wha, e nga reo Rangatira, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa i tenei wa o te “Wiki o te Reo Maori”. Nau mai, tautokotia tenei wiki nui, hei aha, hei turangawaewae, mo a tatou tamariki, mokopuna e tipu ake mai ana. Noho mai i runga ite whakaaro kotahi, rangimarie. Wednesday, September 14, marked the beginning of National Maori Language Week. The object of National Maori Language Week is to highlight the fact that Maoris are the indigenous people, that Maori is the indigenous language of this country and that Maori children have the right to learn the language their parents speak. It is to highlight the gap between promise and reality. It is a sad fact that in New Zealand there is no real relationship between the languages which are taught in our schools and the languages which are spoken in the community. The only rationale for this is that our education system is based on the wholesale importation of the English Education system with its middle-class, AngloSaxon, Victorian ideals! The English education system included the language of its neighbours and the evidence that the Education authorities believe in the preservation of these European values is found in the fact that they consider French and Latin, German and Greek still to be an essential part of a liberal education.

The present situation is that the teaching of languages and the choice of which languages are taught is totally unrelated to the needs, desires and expectations of many New Zealanders, particularly Maoris. Hence the need for Maori Language Week — te wiki-nui-o-te-reo-Maori!

September 14th, 1972, went down in the history of Maoris as the first Te ra-o-te-reo-Maori, National Maori Language Day! The highlight of that day was the presentation of a Petition to Parliament organised by Hana Jackson on behalf of Nga Tamatoa. More than 42,000 people had signed that petition which sought to have Maori language made available in all schools as an integral part of the school syllabus. Activities were organised in the main cities to coincide with the presentation of the Petition on the steps of Parliament. Hundreds of Maoris gathered in the rain and in an extremely moving ceremony made politicians as well as other Pakeha New Zealanders, aware of our feelings for our language.

In 1973, it was decided that a day was insufficient and National Maori Language Day became National Maori Language Week — te wiki-nui-o-te-reo-Maori. Since that time the week beginning September 14th has been devoted to activities to increase public interest in Maori Language and other matters of importance to us. The intention of the Petition was to make known to all New Zealanders that the need to sustain our language was vital. It was also designed to show that the patently stupid educational policies which aimed to suppress Maori Language so that Maori children could learn English, were based on completely erroneous assumptions. It sought to have Maori language taught as part of the syllabus beginning at primary school. The object of this policy would be to teach all New Zealanders correct pronounciation of Maori words, to enable them to hold a simple conversation in Maori and to give them an insight into the richness and beauty of Maori culture. W’e asked that courses be introduced at that level because it is generally accepted that younger children acquire a second language more readily than older children. We said fluent speakers were the people who

should teach our language and that they should be trained to speak. Phil Amos, then Minister of Education, said in 1974 that Maori language should be taught in primary schools as an integral part of the school syllabus beginning at primary school. This was a remarkable reversal of educational policy because for years the Education Department had waged total, unrelenting, uncomprising war against Maori language. Last year a working party on second language learning which had been set up by Amos reported to Mr Gander, present Minister of Education. One of their recommendations was that Maori be taught as the major second language in primary and intermediate schools. Whether this Government will carry on the policy laid down by Amos is a matter of great concern. Already, the small, but significant, advances made during the Labour Government’s term in office are being eroded, ostensibly because of cutbacks in the education grant. Headmasters continue to refuse to allow Maori language to be taught in their schools. Their power to do this must be removed from them.

In I97sthe beginning of the Maori Land March was timed to coincide with the start of National Maori Language Week. Although a host of activities have been arranged in other years, to highlight the ideas and ideals of our language, nothing had been organised before that dramatised Maori grievances as effectively as the March did. Although we marched specifically for our land, we marched for all things Maori. This year, activities are again concentrating on the teaching of Maori at primary school and pre-school. The media have also accepted a responsibility to contribute special items of relevance to the week. Maoris realise that if we are to achieve basic rights under this Government - of which the right to learn our language is one - we must fight to achieve them. National Maori Language Week is part of that struggle.