Kairangahau Tangata Māori Tangata Tonga: Tūhinga Kairangi Te Reo Māori

Abstract

Ko tēnei te wāhanga whakarāpopoto o taku tuhinga kairangi i roto i te reo Māori he tūmomo whakamārama tēnei ki ngā kaipānui me pēhea ngā ākonga tangata Māori e whai ana i te ara rangahau o te tohu paerua me te whakapapa e tūhono ai ki ngā moutere o te moana nui a kiwa hei whakatauira i tōku ake rangahau me tōku ake whakapapa nō Tonga penei i ahau he koroua he tipuna matua tōku nō Tōnga me pehea te tangata e whakaara ake i te mana whakaarotau ahurea i roto i ōnā mahi katoa. Mai i taku tirohanga o te mokopuna o Te Whānau-ā-Rutaia o Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. Ko te ahurea whakaarotau me ngā tohu hei whakamana i tēnei mea te whakapapa o tana koroua nō te moutere o Tonga. Ko tēnei mea te whakapapa me te reo Māori me ōnā tikanga te waka huia hei kawe i te wairua o te tuakiri hapū. Hei tautoko i tēnei kereme e whakapae ana ko te tuatahi me whakamihi i te ngana me te kaha o te kairangahau ki te tuhituhi me te kōrerorero i roto i te reo Māori ko te reo tuarua ko tōnā tikanga ā iwi, tikanga matatika me ngā tikanga tuku iho e hāngai puu ki te ao kōrero Māori o ōnā iwi katoa hei whakahaumaru i te oranga o te taiao me te Mātauranga o te ao Māori. Ko te tuatoru o tēnei o tēnei tuhinga roa he whakaae i ahau hei kaiuru o taku hapū a Te Whānau ā Rūtaia, he whakanui hoki i taku kaiurutanga hei mokopuna o taku kainga tūturu. Ki te hoki atu taku tinana ki te ukaipo o te whenua e kore au e ngaro he kakano ahau i ruia mai i Rangiātea. Ki te hoki atu taku tūpāpaku ki te koopu o te whenua ko Rūtaia taku hapū, ko Ōmāio taku whenua he waahi motuhake e kore e whakaaukati i taku whānau otira ko taku whenua me taku whakapapa ā hapū hoki. Otira e mihi ana, e kore te aroha e mimiti noa.

This summation of my doctoral research, which is a written (not practice-led) thesis in te reo Māori, is somewhat of an explanation to readers of how Māori postgraduates with ancestry from Pacific countries, like me with a maternal grandfather from Tonga, might apply cultural priority in their work. From my perspective as a mokopuna (granddaughter) of Te Whānau-ā-Rūtaia hapū of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui iwi, cultural priority signals that although I acknowledge my Tongan descent on mum’s side, I prioritise my whakapapa Māori (Māori lineages) and tikanga Māori (Māori customary practices) on dad’s side. The ancestry and traditions rooted in the land where I was born and raised, the land where my people are the Indigenous population, take precedence for multiple reasons. Firstly, I am a Native speaker of te reo Māori, the language of Māori tribes. Secondly, I practice the beliefs, ethics, customs, and way of living belonging to a Māori knowledge system and worldview. Thirdly, and no less important than the preceding points, is the social acceptance of my Rūtaia people that I belong to them. If and when I pass away, I can therefore return home to Ōtūwhare marae for burial, and no one will question whether I have the cultural rite of passage to be buried in the urupā of our bones, our people. I am Māori by culture.