Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week
Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria
My language is my awakening; my language is the window to my soul.
He tau whakahirahira te tau 2022. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Māori Language Petition (14th September 1972).
What was the reason for bringing this language up, and why is it important to remember our language in Aotearoa (New Zealand)
In all schools across Aotearoa, every child speaks English between 1867 to 1969. Note an interesting fact before 1867, where the missionaries and the early colonial period, there was a small number of Native Schools, including the first school in the Bay of Island by Thomas Kendall of the Anglican Church Missionary Society. But the actual school for the Māori was in Paramatta, Australia, by Rev Samuel Marsden from 1813 until 1820, with 25 Māori students. Fast forward, Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker, DCNZM, saw the loss of the Māori language in the 1960s and his contribution to the revitalisation of te reo. It is not just Dr R Walker. And there were other Māori people – Apirana Ngata, the most influential Māori leader; Professor Ralph Piddington, head of anthropology at Auckland University, Maharaia Winiata, Hana te Hamara, Te Reo Māori Society from Wellington and Ngā Tamatoa.
Then the Māori Land March of 1975 Te Rōpū Matakite (Māori Those with Foresight’) was created by Dame Whina Cooper of Te Karaka, Hokianga.
In Aotearoa, there are two official languages apart from English at the bottom: Te Reo Māori, NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language), and English is the predominant language spoken. Māori people arrived in Aotearoa before Europeans arrived.
Yes, my mother and sister studied Māori at the University, and we have Māori friends. There are many Māori histories and the lesson of the Treaty of Waitangi here. Lucky, I learnt this while I was studying Anthropology, History and Linguistics at the University of Waikato to complete my B.A. in Arts.
What about Turi Māori (Māori Deaf) in Aotearoa? How much can they understand our history and the language in Te Reo?
We know that there was no sign language for Turi Māori in the past because no one has not thought about this. Yes, a small group led by the late Patrick Thompson tried to revitalise the Māori culture, whakapapa, iwi and the marae lessons and workshops for the Turi Māori (Māori Deaf) community in the past. In the end, there were Maori sign language concepts. In the past, we had one Māori interpreter – Stephanie for my mother, sister, and I met and know her back in 1983 when she moved to Waikato from Auckland. Stephanie has been the first trilingual interpreter in Te Reo, NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) and English in New Zealand for the Deaf community plus the Turi Māori (Māori Deaf) for many years.
Today Turi Māori (Māori Deaf) asks for more Māori interpreters across Aotearoa to run the workshops about the Treaty of Waitangi, iwi, whakapapa, and expand more Māori vocabulary words into Māori sign language concepts. https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/09/12/disheartening-lack-of-trilingual-interpreters-for-maori-deaf/
Pure consider NZSL was banned in education here back in the 1880s. In Milan, Italy, there was a The Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf was (despite the name) the first international conference of deaf educators. Today this conference, known as the Milan Conference, declared that oral education (Oralism) was superior to manual education and passed a resolution banning sign language in school on 11th September, 1880.
It was “A New Era: Deaf Participation and Collaboration” – rejected the Milan resolutions, expressed deep regret for the detrimental effects of the Milan resolutions, and promoted the acceptance of and respect for all languages and forms of communication in educational programs.” In 2010, many Deaf communities received an apologised about the Milan Conference at the 21st Conference International Congress on the Education of the Deaf in Vancouver. https://deafhistory.eu/index.php/component/zoo/item/2010-apologies-for-milan-conference
https://teara.govt.nz/en/maori-education-matauranga/page-2
