The importance of community/people around Aotearoa.

He aha te mea nui o te ao? Hthe e tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people! It is people!

This whakatauki talks to the importance of human connection and relationships. This is what creates community and enables people to flourish. It values the human being in all of us and reminds us of what is most important – not money, not success, not a job or a thing – it is people.

Many thousand years ago where no people were living in Aotearoa (Long White Cloud) as Māori people travelled far away from Asia to the Pacific Islands, even to Easter Island, other islands before reaching Aotearoa by the explorer Kupe sighted the cloud, the cloud over the North Island (New Zealand as in English but no related to the word – Aotearoa).

Their te Reo Māori became more evolution from time to time when Māori people saw many new plants, animals, natural environment such as sun, rain. At the same time, most accents and dialects remain similar to Cook Island and other islands.

We don’t know and have not got about the record of sign language by the Tū Tangata Turi (Māori Deaf people) thousand years ago.

Many Māori people speak their own te Reo Māori in their homes, pubs, community events, places where they buy foods, meats, and fishes except in schools. Many Māori children went to school, and they learned to speak and read in English trough their schooling times. One day, a small number of Māori people, including linguists, historians and politics people starting to realise their native mother te Reo declining by 1970s. At the time, many Māori people beginning to look at themselves as their culture and their identity as it is their Māori culture. In 1972, three groups –  Auckland-based Ngā Tamatoa (The Young Warriors), Victoria University’s Te Reo Māori Society, and Te Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association) formed a largest groups and campaign for the rights of their Māori culture including te Reo Māori by sending petitions to the Government. Finally, their battle had won, and their te Reo Māori became officially and recognised in 1987.

Now, I would like to point out what about Tū Tangata Turi (Māori Deaf people) today? They did not realise about their culture or sign language until Patrick Thompson organised a hui for the Tū Tangata Turi (Māori Deaf people) in 1993. It was the first time the hui became the first National hui in Orakei Marae, Aotearoa. Patrick taught NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language), the Māori culture and their identity at the Orakei Marae. Because in the 1950s and 1960s, many Māori Deaf children were sent to two Deaf Schools – one in the North Island and second in the South Island away from their whānau (Family), their homes, even their hapū (extended family). Many of Māori Deaf children lost their identity, culture and te Reo Māori to English and NZSL.  Yes, they were oppressed and discriminated by the European people over hundreds of years. Here is the link if you wish to explore late Patrick Thompson.

https://signdna.org/video/being-maori-deaf-interview-with-patrick-thompson/

Note there is still no Māori Sign Language because there were no records available. The only way to use Māori Sign Language is to use many concepts from NZSL along with te Reo Māori.

So this week, it is Te Wikio o te Reo Māori 2020. There is an excellent organisation established by two women – Jamie and Victoria, and the organisation called ‘Merge NZ’ several years ago. What is Merge NZ? It is about giving many opportunities to learn and communicate in NZSL through education, in the communities such as cafes, Deaf camp, to the broader communities between the Deaf and the hearing people. The Merge NZ’s missions are Promotion, Development, and Services.

Check out their website and learn the Māori NZSL concepts by using the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=325072851916301&extid=EgkrznISTHpqMeMa