Waiwhetu marae, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai, Ans Westra, 1960, Te Papa Tongarewa.
Paora Tibble, Iwi Development Manager | Pouwhirinaki ā-Iwi
Tēnā tātau i te wiki o te reo Māori, i a Mahuru Māori. Tāpiri atu ki tēnā, kua 39 ngā tau mai i te rā i tuwhera ai te whakaaturanga o Te Māori ki te MET i Te Pīki Āporo i te 10 o Hepetema, 1984.
Nā Ans Westra tēnei whakaahua i te whakatuwheratanga o te wharenui, Arohanui ki te Tangata, i te marae o Waiwhetū, 1960. He nīti rawa ki a au te hopu a Ans i te wahine e tango whakaahua ana.
Kāti, ko te mea mīharo ki a au kua mau i a Ans tō mātou tupuna kuia, a Rihi Gotty (nee Iwikau). Ko ia te kuia he mā ōna makawe. I mate tēnei kuia i mua i taku whānautanga mai ki te ao. Nō Ngāti Waewae, nō Ngāti Turumakina, nō Parehuiamatangi. Ko Tongariro te maunga, ko Taupō te moana, ko Tūwharetoa te iwi, ko Te Heuheu te tangata!
Nō te ao tawhito a Rihi, ko te reo Māori tōna reo. I tipu ake ia i Tokorangi, i te taha o te awa o Rangitīkei, i Te Reureu.
Ko te reo Pākehā te reo o ngā mokopuna. E rua noa iho ngā reanga, ka ngaro te reo o tōku whānau. Ka moe taku whaea, a Olive Gotty ki taku pāpā, ki a Kakapaiwaho Kururangi Tibble (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui). He tangata kōrero Māori ia. I ngā tāima i kōrero taku pāpa mō Rihi, ka kā mai te raiti ki roto i a ia, ka rangona te aroha mō tō mātou tupuna kuia. I whakatūria taku pāpā hei kaikōrero mō te whānau a Rihi. Ka tū ia, ka whāngaia ki te kupu, ki te whakapapa, ka ākina, ka whakawāngia, ka whakatikaina e Rihi mā. Koia te wānanga o te tū kōrero mōna, ko ngā kuia o Te Reureu.
Tērā te kōrero mō te wā i puta mai ai te pukapuka o Tūwharetoa, nā John Te Herekiekie Grace. Ka riro mā Wāho (taku pāpa) ngā tuhinga reo Pākehā e whakamāori mā te kuia rā. Ko tā Rihi he whakaae, he whakahē, he tāpiri atu he kōrero anō. Ko te mea aroha, kāre i a Wāho tētahi mihīni hopu i te reo o Rihi.
Rā kē te kōrero a kui mā, a koro mā. He kitenga kanohi, ka hoki ngā mahara. Ko Rihi te hononga ki te ao tawhito. I tēnei whakaahua o Te Arohanui ki Te Tangata, ka whai whakaaro ki te taniwha o Te Upoko o Te Ika, ki a Ihakara Puketapu. Nāna ētahi kaupapa nui whakaharahara pēnei me Te Māori. Koia te tāima o te aranga mai o Te Kōhanga Reo, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Nō muri mai, ko Te Papa Tongarewa me ngā hua o aua kaupapa kei te rangona tonuhia.