Eboni Waitere
“Ariari ana taku maumahara ki tētahi rā i taku taiohinga, i te whare pukapuka o Whakaoriori au, ka kite i tētahi pānui whakaahua ātaahua mō ngā Tohutoa Paki Poto a Huia…
Read Eboni’s story in English here.
Ka manawarū tonu i te kite ake he tohutoa anō mō ngā tuhinga Māori. Kua tata eke te toru tekau tau mai i taua wā, ā, kua noho nei ko au tētahi o ngā kaiwhakaputa, kaiwhakahaere o Huia. Nō nā tata nei i puta ai i a mātou tētahi kohinga paki poto hou i hua ake i taua whakataetae (e mōhiotia nei i ēnei rā ko ngā Tohu Pikihuia). Ka kōrero mai hoki tētahi o ō mātou kaitito hou mō ōna wheako i Pikihuia. Ko ia tētahi i whakauru ki te whakataetae i ngā tau tōmua e tū ana te kaupapa, ā, koirā tētahi o ngā take i hiahia ai ia ki te whakaputa i āna pukapuka i raro i ngā parihau o Huia.
Ko tā mātou kaupapa, he tuku pukapuka ki te ao e whakaata ana i ngā tirohanga Māori matahuhua. Nō te 1991 i whakatūria ai a HUIA, e Robyn Bargh. He paki poto te momo kōrero i tāia nuitia i ngā tau tīmatanga, engari i te takanga o te wā kua tupu, kua toro anō hoki ki ngā tānga kura wānanga me ērā mō te ao rapu mātauranga nui tonu. Ko te hōtaka ao mātauranga tā Brian Morris, tāna takoha nui whakahara ki a Huia. Mai i te 1991, ko tōna 450 ngā kaituhi Māori, me ngā ringa whakaahua āhua 50 nei, kua whakaputaina e Huia ā rātou whakairo auaha (taka mai ki te wā tūtata nei). Kei te takiwā o te 1,000 ngā pukapuka reo Māori kua tukua e mātou ki te ao.
He wā anō tau mai ai he raukura nō ngā kura kaupapa hei pia mā mātou. Kua haere mai ētahi ki a au me tētahi pukapuka a HUIA, koia tāna tino pukapuka i a ia e tamariki ana. I konā ka kite au i te hua nui o ngā mahi whakaputa pukapuka a HUIA kua 30 tau e kawea ana. He raukura anō au nō te kura kaupapa Māori, nō reira ka tino titi ērā tū kōrero ki taku whatumanawa. Me mātua kite ā tātou tamariki i a rātou, me te huhua anō o ō rātou āhua, o ō rātou wheako, i roto i ngā paki Māori. Kia puta ai he pukapuka ngahau ki te tamariki, ka mahi tahi mātou ki ngā kaituhi pūmanawa nui pērā i a Whiti Hereaka, i a Steph Matuku, i a Shilo Kino, ki te tuku kōrero e whakapuaki ana i te titiro Māori, e whakaatu ana anō hoki i ngā kawenga huhua, i ngā tuakiri huhua, i ngā wawata huhua o ā tātou tamariki. Mō te wāhi ki te reo Māori, e arotahi ana mātou ki ngā titonga hou. He paki e kukume ana, e kawe ana i te kaipānui; he kōrero kāore anō kia wātea hei pānui ki reo kē, ki wāhi kē, e hihiko tahi ai te hunga pānui me te hunga tuhi.
He kōrero ngahau, he kōrero ahurei rānei kei a au mō ngā pukapuka katoa kua puta i a mātou. Nō mātou te whiwhi nui kua mahi tahi mātou ki tērā momo i a Tā Hirini Moko Mead, i a Tākuta Rangi Matamua, ki te whakaputa pukapuka e taki ana i te wānanga, e tuku ana i te mātauranga Māori kia pānuitia whānuitia. I te 2018, ka whakanuia te mātauranga Māori e Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga me Te Apārangi, i Te Takarangi – he rārangi o ngā pukapuka Māori hirahira 150 nei, he kōrero pono te kai o roto. Ka putuputu te whakaaturia mai o ngā pukapuka nei i te takanga o ngā marama, ā, i te mea ko te maha tonu o aua pukapuka nā HUIA i whakaputa, ka kitea tā mātou koha nui ki te mātākōrero Māori.
He mea tino nui ki a mātou te manatā Ko te whakapono, tētahi ki tētahi, te muka e whiria ai ō mātou taura tangata. Ā, ko te aho matua o ēnei whiringa, ko tā mātou kī taurangi ka tiakina e mātou ngā kaituhi me ā rātou mahi. Ka whakapono mai ngā kaituhi ka tika tā mātou mahi, engari ko ngā mea e kaha ana te takahia o te manatā, ko ngā pukapuka mātauranga Māori. Hei tauira, kia tata te aranga ake o Matariki, ka kaha te tāruatia, te whakamahia o te pukapuka a Tākuta Matamua, a Matariki: Te Whetū Tapu o te Tau, me te kore tonu e whakapā mai, e kimi whakaaetanga rānei i te tuatahi. He raru tēnei e kaha ānini ai te māhunga, ā, he nui te wā me te kaha ka pau ki te whakatikatika. Ko te rongoā i te nuinga o te wā, he whakamihi, he whakaatu nā wai ake, he whakapāha rānei, ehara i te mea mā te moni rawa e ea ai. He rite tonu te whakamahara mai a taku hoamahi, a Brian, ki te kōrero mō Rātā i te wao nui a Tāne. Ko te whakaaro rangatira te mea nui – tēnā haere mai, ka mātua tono mehemea e pai ana te whakamahi, kaua e topea atu te rākau, kāore he whakaaro, kāore he aha.
I ētahi o ā mātou pukapuka, i ahu mai he kōrero, he whakaaro rānei i te tokomaha, nō te tokomaha rānei te mana whakairo auaha. I ētahi tau tata ki muri, ka whakaputaina e mātou a Haka, he kōrero nā Patricia Grace mō te haka nei a ‘Ka Mate’. He mea tito a ‘Ka Mate’ e Te Rauparaha, rangatira o Ngāti Toa. Nō Ngāti Toa anō te mana whakairo auaha, ā, e whakaūngia ana tēnei e te Haka Ka Mate Attribution Act. Hei whakaputa i te pukapuka Haka, ka takoto tā mātou tono ki a Ngāti Toa, ā, ka whakaaetia. He mahi rangahau nunui ka whai i muri iho mō ngā mahi toi o te pukapuka, kia tika ai te whakaata mai a ngā whakaahua i ngā āhuatanga o mua, pērā i te moko o Te Rauparaha me te āhua o te rua kūmara i huna ai ia i ōna hoariri. Kei te whakapono mai anō hoki ngā ringa whakaahua ka tiakina e mātou ā rātou whakairo auaha. Ina tāruatia he pukapuka pērā i a Haka me te kore e mātua tono kia whakaaetia te tāruatanga, he nui ngā tāngata, ngā hononga me ngā mana whakairo auaha tērā tonu e takahia.
Kua āhua tūpato a ngāi Māori i roto i ngā tau ki te tuku i te mātauranga Māori ki te pukapuka, i te mea kia puta ki te ao tūmatanui, he uaua te matapopore. He taonga kāmehameha ō tātou mātauranga; me pai ake a Aotearoa ki te tiaki ka tika. Me whakakaha ake ngā ture e pā ana ki te takahanga o te mana whakairo auaha, kia noho haumaru ai ngā kaituhi me ā rātou titonga. Ki te kore e kitea he huarahi hei rauhī i ngā kaituhi, tērā pea ka mutu tā rātou whakairo kupu, e mutu anō ai te puta o te pukapuka hou mō te mātauranga Māori hei kai mā tūmatanui mā. Koia tēnei, ko te whiriwhiri nui kei mua i a tātou.”
Ko Eboni Waitere tētahi o ngā kaiwhakahaere matua o Huia.