Wāhine, mana and te reo Māori
Hepetema brings lots of opportunities to engage with the taonga te reo Māori. This blog post reminds us of the mana of wāhine Māori and highlights three who have made significant contributions to keeping our language not just alive, but strong.
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora a mua.
Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead.
Image credit: Maori language students at Thorndon School, Wellington, 1992 by John Nicholson, The Dominion Post. Ref: EP-Ethnology-Maori Language-01 Alexander Turnbull Library.
Kia kaha te reo Māori — making the language stronger
The month of Hepetema (September) is here! It’s an exciting time of year for the taonga that is te reo Māori with three great opportunities to engage with others in learning our language.
These opportunities come with a wonderful range of resources and suggestions to celebrate not only the beauty of te reo Māori but the connection our language provides to te ao Māori and the histories of Aotearoa. Be sure to visit these websites to plan your engagement and be inspired:
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori runs between 11 and 17 Hepetema this year with the theme of Kia kaha te Reo Māori.
Te Taura Whiri | The Māori Language Commission’s Te Wā Toku Reo Māori | The Māori Language Moment happens at midday on 14 Hepetema.
Perhaps less well-known is Mahuru Māori, which kicks off the following day on 15 Hepetema.
To learn more about the frustrations and triumphs of the struggle to keep te reo Māori alive, see this excellent timeline of the history of te reo Māori from Manatū Taonga — Te mana o te Reo Māori timeline.
Te mana o te wāhine Māori | The mana of Māori women
Prior to the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi, and the colonisation of Aotearoa that followed, wāhine Māori generally enjoyed equity with men. However, mana wāhine began to be eroded from the second half of the 1800s, and as a result, there are few records, or inaccurate records, of their lives. Manatū Wāhine | Ministry of Women tells us:
Wāhine Māori held important positions of leadership and authority and were involved in decision-making processes, including those relating to whenua, resources, and their communities. They also played a crucial role in passing on mātauranga Māori and practices to younger generations.
— Wāhine Māori
A group of wāhine of mana. Image credit: A group of women in traditional Maori clothing, ca 1910s–1920s by Stanley Polkinghorne Andrew. Ref: 1/1-014579-G Alexander Turnbull Library.
I draw here on two examples of wāhine of huge mana who were both highly influential during their lives.
The first is Turikatuku (Te Hiketū, Ngāti Rēhia), the senior wife of Hongi Hika. Turikatuku went blind in adulthood, however, despite this she remained an important advisor and strategist to Hongi, including on his military campaigns. Born around 1773 in Whangaroa, Te Tai Tokerau, you can learn more about Turikatuku and her life from our Storybook app: Turikatuku — Te wahine taki wairua.
The second example is Te Rangitopeora (also known as Rangi Topeora and Queen of the South) of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa. Born around 1800 in Kawhia, she was one of the few wāhine we know of who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. She was a leader, orator, composer and poet of great mana. Te Rangitopeora features in our He Tohu web page: A treaty: Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Research suggests there were more wāhine signatories of Te Tiriti than originally thought. You can read about some of them on this page from Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga | Archives New Zealand — Ngā tohu wāhine and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Wāhine wai mana | Women reclaiming mana
Many people have worked tirelessly to revitalise te reo Māori after its devastating decline in the 1900s. A great number of these champions have been wāhine, from all walks of life. While it is impossible to pay tribute to them all here, I have chosen three who particularly stand out for their amazing dedication to this kaupapa.
Through their efforts to reclaim their own mana and the mana of te reo Māori, we can all enjoy the growing understanding and use of our language in many spheres today. The movements they helped spearhead, Te Ataarangi, Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori, are producing generations who are staunch proponents and kaitiaki of the language.
Image credit: Mothers and preschoolers at Maori language session led by Billie Tait-Jones, ca 1981 by Ross Giblin. Ref: EP/1981/2608/11-F Alexander Turnbull Library.
Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Ngāwai (1921–1985)
The first wāhine featured here is Te Kumeroa Ngoingoi Ngāwai, also known as Ngoingoi Pewhairangi, of Ngāti Porou. Born in 1921 in Tokomaru Bay, Ngoingoi was many things including a kaiako.
One of the ways Ngoingoi helped to keep te reo Māori alive was as a composer of waiata. Two are particularly famous, E ipo and Poi e. She also composed a waiata for the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1983. Along with Kātarina Mataira (see below), she developed the Māori language programme Te Ataarangi, which began in 1979 and continues to this day.
The following is part of a tribute to Ngoingoi that appeared in Tu Tangata in 1985:
A community leader for whom people would have done (and did) anything. A superb and patient teacher. And the finest Maori composer of her time.
— Tribute to Ngoi Pewhairangi from a pakeha friend, 1985. Tu Tangata, issue 24, page 15
Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi (1929–present)
Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāpuhi, was also a kaiako. She led the establishment of kōhanga reo for preschool children, including the first one in Wainuiomata, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, which opened in 1982.
In 2001, Dame Tawhiwhirangi became a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and subsequently a Dame Companion for services to Māori education. These awards followed her 1992 appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira (1932–2011)
Also of Ngāti Porou, Kāterina Mataira was part of Te Taura Whiri | The Māori Language Commission and was a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a Dame Companion. As well as establishing Te Ataarangi, Mataira co-authored Te Aho Matua the guiding philosophy for many kura kaupapa Māori. The following quote is from the speech she gave upon receiving a lifetime contribution to te reo Māori award from Te Waka Toi in 2001:
When the focus on Māori language revival began, someone said to me ‘How much time will you spend on this project?’ I remember saying I would probably keep working at it until the day I die.
— Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira Honoured
Māori Language Commission, 1987. Kāterina Mataira is second from right. Image credit: Maori Language Commission with Koro Wetere, 1987 by an unidentified Evening Post staff photographer. Ref: EP/1987/4271/18-F Alexander Turnbull Library.
Ā mātou rauemi tautoko | Supporting resources
Here are a selection of rauemi ā-ipurangi (online resources) that support learning about te reo Māori and wāhine Māori.
Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand
Services to Schools blog posts:
Topic Explorer has Te reo Māori.
Te Kupenga: Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand has the following:
Many Answers has Te reo Māori (Māori language).
Hāpai ō rānei, he ākonga tātou katoa | Leader or follower, we are all learners
I like the whakataukī that begins this blog as it articulates the meaning of ako so well. Learning a language can be challenging, however, as a pedagogical practice, ako encourages us to learn with and from our ākonga, as well as each other.
Having grown up immersed in te ao Māori, I feel sure that the wāhine who feature in this blog post would agree. Whether you are a leader or a follower, language acquisition is best achieved with others, so let's learn te reo Māori together this Hepetema and beyond!