Kite iho nei i roto i ngā pepa, i ngā puka-puka, kei te aki ngā akonga Maori (me ētahi o ngā mea Pākehā) i ngā Whare Wānanga kia whakaakona te reo Maori ki roto i ngā kura katoa o Aotearoa. Heoi anō te mate, kei hea ngā kaiwhakaako? Ki tāku titiro, he itiiti rawa ngā mea mōhio ki te whakamārama i ngā uauatanga, ngā rerekētanga o tō tātou reo. Apiti atu hoki, he tokomaha tonu ngā kaiwhakaako kāore i te tino mōhio ki te kōrero i te reo, ki te whakatakoto anō hoki i ngā kaupapa whakamārara mō te hunga e ako ana. E koutou e aki nei, me āta whakaaro koutou i te tuatahi. Taihoa rā e whakaakona whānuitia te reo, kia mōhio pai rā anō koutou, kātahi anō aki ai. Ko Te Rōpū Wāhine Maori Toko-i-te-Ora, ko rātou anō kei te aki, ēngari ko te nuinga o a rātou nei tamariki ake kāore i te mōhio ki te kōrero Maori, ki te whakarongo rānei. E pai i a rātou e tahuri ki te whakatika i tēnei—kati te kōrero noa iho, wāhine mā! He tokomaha kē ngā Maori e mōhio ana au kāore i te mōhio ki te kōrero Maori he kore nō ō rātou mātua e whakaako, ēngari ko ngā mea kei te kaha te aki ko aua mātua anō rā! Kātahi hoki te rerekē, i nē? Ko ngā mea e tika ana māna e whakaako te reo kei te waiho kē mā ngā mea o waho e mahi. Kāore e kore ka kī ēnei i te wā e tamariki ana rātou kāore i whakaaetia rātou kia kōrero Maori i ngā papa tākaro o ō rātou kura, ā, nā reira kua kore noa iho rātou e mōhio ki te kōrero. Ki tāku whakaaro, he pai ake mā rātou e whakaako, i te waiho mā ngā Pākehā, ahakoa tō rātou mōhio. He itiiti noa iho ngā Pākehā kei te mōhio, ēngari ko aua mea mōhio, he tino mōhio rawa atu. Nō reira mātua mā, ‘Puritia tō mana, kei riro rā’. I kaha aroha ai au ki ngā mea o tātou e Maori ana ngā āhua, ēngari kāore e mōhio ana ki te whakarongo, ki te kōrero rānei i tō tatou reo, ki te kōrero maoritia atu, ki te pōtaitia atu rānei mehemea e mōhio ana ki tō tātou reo, kua whakamā. I hē anō ai hoki ko te nuinga o ngā mea kāore nei e kōrero Maori ana, kāore hoki e mōhio ana ki te kōrero pai, tika rānei, i te reo Pākehā; nā reira tēnei hunga i pōruarua ai, ā, i pōriro noa ai tō rātou nei reo. He pai ake te mōhio pai ki te reo kotahi i te kōrero kimikimi noa iho i ngā reo e rua. Ko mātou o konei, o Rānana nei, kei te hāpai i ngā taonga nei, arā, ngā mahi haka, ēngari, pēnā anō i te wā kāinga nā, torutoru noa iho nei mātou o konei kei te mōhio pai ki tō tātou reo. Ko tētahi tangata kua tekau mā waru tau ki konei, ēngari ko te reo kei te mau tonu i a ia; ko tētahi wahine anō kua tekau tau, ā, kei te mau anō hoki i a ia te reo—ko ēnei tokorua nō Ngāpuhi, ahu pērā atu ki Te Rarawa. I pai ai he āhua pakeke ake rāua, ā, nō te whakatipuranga kōrero Maori, me pēhea kē hoki e wareware ai? Tēnā, ko ngā mea taetae mai ināianei, korekore kē ana e mōhio ahakoa te kaha Maori o ngā āhua. Tokotoru ngā mea wahine i tae mai, ā, he kōrero Maori katoa, ēngari ko rātou nō Tūhoe ki Ruātoki, ā, e tika ana kia kōrero Maori rātou. Mā koutou kē rā e kite iho ahakoa e tata kē ana mātou o konei ki te rima tekau, kāore kē i tekau ngā mea mōhio pai ki te kōrero Maori, ki te whakarongo rānei, ēngari ka tū ana te hunga nei ki te haka, tau kē ana, ahakoa te kore e mōhio ki te reo! Otirā, e kare mā, he whakaaro noa iho ēnei nō tētahi o ā koutou mokai e mihi atu nei i tawhiti. He kaha aroha nōku ki te ngaro haere o tō tātou reo me te kaha kuare o ngā mea o tātou e tae mai ana ki konei. Heoi anō mā te wā pea e whakatika tēnei hē, nā te mea kua roa rawa ngā mea pakeke o tātou e noho puku ana. Ko ngā whare pā hoki me huaki kia puritia ai ngā taonga kia kore ai e ngaro, ā, kia kore ai hoki tātou e rite ki ngā kirimangu o ētahi atu whenua. Ko tēnei e mihi nei, e tangi nei, e poroporoaki nei, nō Ngāti Rānana, nō reira kia ora mai koutou ō mātou whanaunga, ō mātou karangatanga maha. E ō mātou mate kua hinga mai i runga i ngā marae maha o te wā kāinga nā—haere, haere, haere. Ko te aroha atu ki a koutou nui atu; otirā nā ērā o mātou o te wā kāinga koutou i tangi, nā tātou. Heoi anō e kare mā, kua hoki noa iho aku whakaaro, ki tētahi waiata i whakaakona ki a au, i a au i Taumarunui, e tētahi wahine ngākau nui o reira, arā e Maramena (‘Babs’) Rauhina, ā, ko ngā kupu whakamutunga i pēnei:—‘Otirā te mea nui ko te aroha rā Ki a koutou e.’ The writer of this article, Mr Sam Karetu, comes from Ruatahuna; by descent he is half Tuhoe and half Ngati Kahungunu ki Heretaunga. He was educated at Victoria University, where he studied Maori, French and German, and at Wellington Teachers' College. After teaching for two years at Taumarunui High School he went to England, where he is now Information Officer with the New Zealand High Commission, New Zealand House.