"I think for Māori, taking back the taonga that is te reo — one that was systematically removed from us, or made so unappealing that we simply never recognised it for the taonga it is — comes with a lot of baggage. Or at least it does for me.
I once asked a question of Hana O’Regan who was keynote speaker at a conference I was attending. She is hardcore and has always spoken to her children exclusively in te reo. I asked her for tips on how to pass more te reo Māori on to my child.
I stuttered and faltered in my question and was obviously apologetic about my abandoned attempts at gaining more te reo for myself.
Her answer was a gift that I often come back to and it helps to loosen the knot in me sometimes. She said that it takes one generation to lose a language but three to get it back, and as long as your child is getting more te reo than you got, then you’re doing well. You’re on the right track.
Even now, thinking about it chokes me up. If there hadn’t been several hundred people in the room, her answer would have made me sob (I held it in as best I could but some leaked out the sides, I think). Because she, arguably the most prominent advocate for te reo Māori in the South Island, gave me permission to put down the guilt. She told me that I was good enough."
- Moata Tamaira
Kā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha | Canterbury | Christchurch City | 2020-29 | Story is by tangata whenua
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