Māori Interpreter for the Nga tangata Māori Turi
Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai.
Many hands make light work.
The population of Māori Deaf people is challenging to determine. Calculations of New Zealand’s signing Deaf community, which range between 4,500 and 7,700 (Dugdale, 2000; Statistics New Zealand, 2001), provide estimations of the New Zealand Deaf community as a homogenous group. It is widely speculated, however, that Māori are well overrepresented within the New Zealand Deaf community. https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/article/12/1/93/437278
Note: there was another number of Māori Turi in the other article – 110,000 Maori deaf, born into a culture…. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0906/S00017/maori-and-deaf-a-journey-of-rediscovery-maori-tv.htm
We don’t have the actual number of Māori Turi around Aotearoa because they are more likely not to be involved with the Deaf community or being isolated away from the Deaf community. Hopefully, the Census Statistics will be updated by showing us how many Māori Turi within the community.
Currently, we have got 5 qualified Māori (New Zealand Sign Language interpreters for the Nga tangata Māori Turi BUT only two Māori interpreters are trilingual interpreters in New Zealand. One of only two trilingual Māori interpreters has fully qualified in te Reo language and NZSL along with English over twenty-five years. This interpreter is Stephanie Awheto of Ngati Ruanui and Taranaki iwi. While there are another five more interpreters, have gone through training to become a Māori training under the NZSL courses in New Zealand.
Stephanie for I know her back in the 1980s in Waikato and Patrick Thomspon went to the same Intermediate School I went in Hamilton. I recalled Patrick was asking me what my mother was doing with a group of University students from the University of Waikato in the East Coast of the North Island. My reply was my mother was studied in Māori papers and the group went to the East Coast to meet other Iwi, hapū and Tangata whenua (people of the land) and I asked Patrick if he knows about his background and where he came from. His reply was no because he was unclear where he came from. I told him to talk to his whanau or Stephanie about his background.
Stephanie’s story can be found in this link here.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/09/how-deaf-maori-are-being-heard.html
During my studies in Human Service for people with Disability, my group as I was the only deaf student at the time of my studying. We went up to Kopu, near Thames and we stayed at the Matai Whetu marae for a few days. My request for an interpreter was Stephanie, and she came with us. I used the funding from Workbridge who helped many people with disabilities for their study and job. I learnt the critical keynotes was where I came from, who is my family, which river and mountain I belong to. I will explain more about this one tomorrow. There was a person – Willy, and he came from Ngāti Whātua, and he knew the area where my ancestors – Watkinson-Yates grew up in Ruatangata, near Kamo and Whangārei. If Stephanie was not there to interpret for me during the stay at the Matai Whetu and I loosed the information or even who is Willy.
It is important for everyone here to included Māori interpreters during the meetings, marae, hui, conference, Zoom, where speakers are speaking in te Reo language. This will allow many Māori Turi to get involved just like us to understand what is going on, what the speaker talking. Take a look at one of the organisation – Paerangi in the link here.
However “there needed to be a three-pronged attack strategy – more trilingual interpreters, more knowledge around New Zealand Sign Language and more access to Te Ao Māori” (in Stephanie’s comment 2017).” I checked with one of the Māori Turi this morning, and yes there is still more demand to have trilingual interpreters today.
Kāhore taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini
We cannot succeed without the support of those around us
