Ko Siena Yates, kei te tīmata noa i tana haerenga reo Māori, kua kite i ētahi tohutohu me ētahi whakaaro nui o ētahi o ngā toa i Ngā Tohu Reo nā Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i te tau kua huri.

E kōrero atu nei ia ki a Kristin Ross o Punarau Media, e pā ana ki ngā mahi pakeke ki te whakatupu tamariki i roto i tētahi kāinga reo Māori, koia i whakaihu waka ai tōna pakihi.

Nō nā tata nei, nāku tētahi tāre Pipi Mā i hoko mā taku irāmutu, ko te momo tāre kōrero reo Māori tuatahi i te ao.

I tēnei wā, kua whakamahia noa e ia hei urunga – he pai ki a ia ngā mea ka taea e ia te tukituki ka pākarukaru – engari ko te tūmanako ka tere paitia tēnei e ia. Ko taku hiahia kia riro i a ia tētahi mea tākaro kotahi e tohu mai ana i tōna ao, nōna tūturu.

He mea waihanga a Pipi Mā nā tētahi kamupene e kīia nei ko Punarau Media, he mea whakahaere nā Kristin Ross rāua ko tana hoa tāne, arā, ko Hōhepa Tuahine. E whakaputa ana hoki rāua i ētahi kaupapa whakangahau nei, ā, kua whai toronga atu ki te ao ahumoni ā-matihiko, ki te ao hokohoko whare, ki ngā whakahoutanga matihiko, pēnei me tō rātou paepae ipurangi kaupapa whakangahau, arā, ko MāoriNow, koia ka whakarewaina hei te tau e tū mai nei.

I te tau kua huri, i riro i a rāua tētahi tohu reo Māori mō te hōtaka ā-ipurangi Living by the Stars me Professor Rangi Matamua, ā, he mea “waihanga e pā ana ki ngā kōrero mō Matariki, nā te Māori, mō te Māori, ki te reo Māori”.

I tīmata ngā mahi reo Māori a te tokorua nei tata ana te tekau tau kua huri, i te wā i whānau mai ai tā rāua tamaiti mātāmua (arā, ko Hinehui, kua eke ki te iwa tau iāianei), ā, he mea whakarite i runga i te “kūare” ka whakatupuria mai ai he kāinga reo Māori nahenahe tōna kāinga.

Koia he whakaritenga māia i runga i te mōhio i tupu reo Māori kore mai a Kristin rāua ko Hōhepa. Ahatia he mea ako rāua i te whare wānanga, ā, mea whakaū ki te whakarite mārire i te ara tika mā tā rāua tamāhine horekau nei rāua i whiwhi i mua.

Nā whai anō, ka kite rāua he mahi nui tēnei. Nō te whānautanga mai o Hinehui, tūturu e ngaro ana ētahi taonga o te kete kei ō rāua ringaringa.

Āna he take wehewehe tāngata anō tēnei, hoa atu, whānau mai, rātou i wehi i te reo Māori, horekau rānei i tautoko, ka mea rānei he mahi taumaha tēnei kia reo Māori nahenahe — nā, ka ora ake rāua i te noho a toiroa. Ā, ka rongo e ngaro ana he wāhanga nō te hapori.

Nā, ka taka, kua raruraru anō rāua ki te rapu i ngā kaupapa ako kaukau, i ngā pouaka kai rānei kua waitohua ki ngā tohu reo Māori ake. I te ruarua noa hoki o ngā momo mea tākaro reo Māori, Māori ake nei, i hiahia rāua hei whakanohonga mō ngā uri.

“Ka nui ngā rawa mātauranga i te ao,” ko tā Kristin, “heoi, kāore e paingia e te te tamariki i ngā wā katoa, ā, he iti rawa hoki hei haututū mā te tamariki.” Me whakaaro ake ki ngā taonga rāwekeweke a Fisher Price, he waiata taki pū reta atu, taki tau atu ki ngā nohinohi. Ko ngā mea mataono whai waiata e pā ana ki ngā tae, pēhia ana te pātene, nā, kua waiata mai. Horekau rawa he mea pēnei.

“Koia tēnā ko te pūtakenga mai o Punarau. Hei tikanga ora mō te whānau e noho māori ai e reo mātāmua ake ai te reo Māori ki a mātou.

“I mōhio kē rā māua ki ngā mea whai tikanga, heoi, horekau i tino mōhio ki te hunga whai pānga hei āwhina e tutuki ai ngā mahi. Nā, i te tau 2014 ka rēhitatia tō māua pakihi, ka ingoatia ko Punarau, arā, ko te punawai e kore rā e mimiti, nā te poka noa iho pea. He whānui rawa ngā kaupapa i hiahiatia hei whāwhātanga atu, koia ka tōia katoa mai ngā tini kaupapa ki te wāhi kotahi.”

I roto i te aroha nui, ka whānau ake ko Pipi Mā.

“Ka moemoeā ana māua mō tā māua kōtiro, ko te wawata nui kia reo Māori tūturu tōna ao, kaua rā e mutu i ōna mātua, i tōna kāinga nahenahe. Engari, ka puta atu ana ia ki te tākaro, kei reira ētahi mea e tohu mai ana i te ao anō e noho nei ia. Ka mātaki ana i te Tīwī, kei reira ētahi atu tohu o tōna anō ao. Ka haere ana ia ki ngā toa hoko, pēnā kei te Warehouse a ia, kei Farmers, kei Kmart rānei, arā anō ētahi atu mea kei ngā whata e tohu mai ana i tōna anō ao. Nā, koia hoki te tīmatanga mai o Pipi Mā.”

Talent Tihini Grant with Kristin’s daughter Hinehui and DOP Rangi Rangitukunoa on the set of Beyond Matariki.

Tihini Grant, Hinehui (9), Rangi Rangitukunoa.

I tupu ake a Kristin i Tāmaki Makaurau, ka haere ki te kura tuatahi o Glendowie, kātahi ka haere ki Selwyn College. Kua toru ngā whakatupuranga tēnei whānau o Ngāti Kahu ki Tāmaki Makaurau, heoi nā tana pāpā, arā, ko Darryl Ross, i whakarite mārire kia mau ngā tamariki, arā, rātou ko ōna tūngāne tokorua ki te ūkaipō, ki te Hiku o-te-Ika, e raungaiti ai te taurahere ki ngā whenua, ki ngā marae.

Ka rawe ki a Kristin te kapa haka, te whāki hoki ki ana hoa i ngā nekenekehanga o te ao Māori, ā, me te ora o te ngākau ki te kōrero atu i ngā hokinga atu ki te kāinga hararei ai. Heoi, mō te kōrero i te reo Māori, “e, pono mārika, kua kore i aro nui atu.”

Ka oti mai ana i a ia tāna mahi i te hai kura kua huri kē ngā tai. Ka anga nui atu a Kristin ki te whai i ngā tapuwae o tōna whaea, arā, ko Jean Hindman, arā, ko ia tōna pou whakaawe, ā, kia tū hoki ko ia hei rōia — nā, ka eke ana ki te 18 tau, ka tīmata tana takahi haere i ngā ara mahi hekeretari me ngā mahi tuari take rōia.

Heoi ka rua noa ngā tau ka makere mai ia, ka rongo puku atu ki tētahi o ngā kiritaki o te kamupene rōia e korero ana mō tana hokonga wāhi whenua i te Hiku o-te-Ika.

“E whakatuanui ana ia i tana take hoko whenua hou mō te iti rawa o te utu, nō taku kitenga atu i ngā kōrero mangu me te mā, ka kite hoki i te ingoa o taua whenua, ka mōteatea taku ngākau. Inā hoki he whenua tūpuna kē ēnei whenua e kōrerongia nei, nō te hapū, nō te iwi. Hei reira rawa ka oti te whakarite, “Kāo, kāti rā tēnei momo ao i a au. Mā te ao Māori tonu ahau ka puta ka ora.”

He mea whakatena mai hoki e Hōhepa. Nō Te Arawa nō Tūhoe, i tupu ake ia i Rotorua, i kuraina hoki ki te Kura Tamatāne o Rotorua. Ka tūtaki rāua i Rotorua, nō Kristin e taumata whitu ana i te kura, e 21 tau te kaumātua o Hōhepa. I te mahi pāparakauta rā ia i tērā tāima, engari nō tō rāua piringa tahi ka tatū ngā whakaritenga i a rāua kia haere tahi atu ki te whare wānanga.

“I tū Māori mārika atu māua. E mahara ana nō mātou i Tāmaki e noho ana, taiohi tonu, hanga 18 ki te 19 tau te kaumātua. I tērā tāima i te takiwā o te wā pōti, nā, tū whakahīhī ana i te aranga mai o te Pāti Māori. He Toyota Corolla tukituki tō māua, me te mahara anō i meatia ētahi kara tino Rangatiratanga i te wini o muri, nā, parore ana te haere huri noa i Tāmaki. E ora ngākau ana.

“Koia tēnā tō māua tūrangahakoa — ko te Māoritanga. Ko te reo Māori anake te mea i te ngaro, heoi nā anō.”

Ka tīmata tō rāua ako reo Māori ki Te Herenga Waka ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, kotahi tau atu ka hūnuku ki Kirikiriroa whakatutuki ai ngā akoranga ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ki Te Panekiretanga o te Reo anō hoki. Engari ko te punga “i ū iho ai te waka ki uta”, ko Hinehui, ki tā Kristin.

“I pēnei māua: E mara, kua tūturu rā tēnei. Ehara i te mea mā te tohu paetahi anake, me kaha anō ki te whakamāori i tō tāua ao, tū te ao tū te pō, me Māori tonu te ao i a tāua.”

Iāianei kua whai tāina a Hinehui i a Marere rāua ko Te Uruhuia.

Rere ana te wehiwehi i te mōhiotanga o ngā mahi o te huringa mai i te momo ngākau-kore ki te reo Māori, tae noa ki te whakatupu uri kāinga reo Māori. I te mea nō nā tata tonu taku rerenga reo Māori, me uiui me tono āwhina ka tika. Mei kore ake te momo pēnei i a Hōhepa, i a pēpi rānei hei whetū rarapa mai, e rere rānei te waka ki hea?

Hei tā Kristin, e toru nei ngā ara o te whakawaewaetanga atu — heoi kotahi nei te whakatūpato: “Ahatia te aha, mei kore te aroha, te mateāone rānei ki te reo Māori, e kore ia e mau. Me noho mārika ko ia nahenahe te iwi whenua.”

I runga i tēnā, ko te mahi tuatahi ko te rapu kaiako pai. Kaua ngā momo nahenahe kei te whakahaere i ngā akoranga, engari ngā hunga i a koe tonu i ō whanaunga ake. “Ehara i te mea māu ake anō e pīkau,” ki tā Kristin. “I taea mai nei māua ko Hōhepa nā te hunga nā rātou māua i morimori. Ka pūmau tonu ake te aroha ki a rātou. Ka nui te whakawhetai.”

Mahi tuarua: Me whai tāngata, me whai hapori. Inā hoki, ahatia te mahi, he tai iti tā tokoiti, he tainui tā tokonui”.

Ā, hei te mutunga ake: Me aro pū ki roto. Me whai whakaaro nui ki a koe ake anō, ki te kāhore, me pēhea e ea ai tā te koha a takitahi ā takitini, nō reira mō te momo whakaaro nui ki a ia anō, māna tēnei mahi, māna ka oti. Me kaha hou atu ki ngā kaupapa whānui ki ngā wāhi whai akoranga kei roto, ki tā Kristin.

“He nui ngā piki me ngā heke i roto i ngā haeretanga atu me ngā hokinga mai, heoi anō, me hinga katoa mai te ngākau ko te reo Māori nahenahe te iwi whenua, kia kotahi, kia rua tau atu ki te whai i tō reo, ahatia ngā hekenga i roto i taua rua tau ka puta tonu, ka ora. Kia ūkaipō mai te reo kāinga i roto i a koe, mā reira ka ea, ka whakauta ake te waka ki tōna hawaikitanga, mā Io te manawa o tauhou e!”

Nā te kamupene Punarau Media o Kristin Ross rāua ko Hōhepa Tuahine i whakaputa te hōtaka ipurangi Living By The Stars with Professor Rangi Matamua, i riro i a ia te tohu pāpaho nā te pūtea tautoko a Te Māngai Pāho ki Ngā Tohu Reo Māori i te tau 2019, kua eke hoki ki te kōwhiringa whāiti ki Ngā Tohu Whakaata o Aotearoa i te tau 2020. He mea oti tēnei hōtaka nā te pūtea tautoko a Te Māngai Pāho.