Ā, he teitei awatea, kei te pō nā noa te hakahaka.
He kaupapa whakaora i te reo o Kāi Tahu a Aoraki Matatū. Ko te aroka mātua o te kaupapa i tēnei tau, ko te āta wānakahia ētehi o kā tuhika tawhito mō kā hekeka o Kāi Tahu ki Te Waipounamu kātahi. Ka rua, me pēhea te whakahoki i ēnei kōrero, mai i te mata o te pene ki te mata o te arero o tēnei reaka, ki kā uri whakatipu.
I kā rā whakatā o te 26 tae noa ki te 28 o Whā i tū tō tātou wānaka ki Kaikōura. I tae atu ētehi o kā kaiuru ki te marae o Takahanga, noho ai i roto i te manaakitaka o te haukāika o Kāti Kuri. Nā Maurice Manawatu mātou i ārahi ki kā wāhi tīpuna o te rohe rā. Kātahi nā te haereka whakamīharo nei kia tae atu ki kā wāhi tīpuna. Ko ētehi o kā wāhi whakahira; ko te pā o Matariki, ko te puna o Haumakariri, ko te pā o Peketā, me te pā o Pari Whakatau hoki. I te ata o te Rātapu i āta wānakahia e mātou kā rauemi pai hai tautoko i kā whānau, i kā mātua, i kā kaiako ki te whakaako i ēnei kōrero ki kā uri o Tahu. Kua whakapiri mai ētahi o kā rakatahi kōrero Māori o KMK. Me whai wāhi rātou ka tika ki ēnei kaupapa, kia mōhio hoki ai rātou i kā kōrero o nehe. Ko rātou kā tuākana o te reo ki tēnei reaka, ā, ko kā rakatira mō āpōpō hoki rātou. Te koi hoki o ō rātou pīnati ki te waihaka rauemi mō tō rātou ake reaka.
E kore e mimiti te puna o mihi ki a koe Maurice Manawatu. He puna mātauraka kua whākaihia mātou ki kā kōrero o nehe. Tēnā rawa atu koe! Nei hoki te mihi ki a Rawiri Manawatu, ā, ki te whānau o Ngāti Kurī hoki – kā tōhuka o te manaaki, tēnā koutou. Nā, me mihi hoki, ka tika ki a Rocky Roberts (a.k.a. Te Rocky-Tauheke.) He taumata anō tō tautoko i te kaupapa nei – Aoraki Matatū.
Aoraki Matatū is a Kāi Tahu Reo leadership programme that supports iwi members to become more confident in facilitating Kāi Tahu reo based lessons and workshops within our Kāi Tahu communities. The key focus of Aoraki Matatū 2016 is studying and examining selected Ngāi Tahu manuscripts. This year our focus has been on the migration of Ngāi Tahu into Te Waipounamu. Our aim is to ensure that our reo champions can draw on traditional knowledge from our tīpuna, to breathe new life into the traditional narratives – the waiata, the whakataukī, the pepeha and the whakapapa within – to revitalise not only te reo but te reo o Kāi Tahu.
The weekend of 26-28 August saw the culmination of the 2016 Aoraki Matatū wānaka series. A number of participants of this year’s programme spent the weekend, under the guidance of Maurice Manawatu, visiting many of the wāhi tūpuna featured in the manuscripts that had been studied. Highlights of the weekend included standing on the very pā that Tūteurutira and Hineroko established – te pā o Matariki, visiting the sacred spring that was divined by Te Rākaitauheke – te puna o Haumakariri, assailing the famous pā site where the many eponymous Kāi Tahu rakatira laid claim to the various regions within the Ngāi Tahu rohe – te pā o Peketā and to the famous pā established by Tukiauau to avenge the death of his father – te pā o Pari Whakatau.
Time was also spent designing and thinking about relevant resources to help disseminate these kōrero among the wider iwi. Our aim is to develop these ideas and have resources available for whānau, KMK parents and at future KMK wānaka reo and events.
This Aoraki Matatū wānaka was attended by a number of te reo speaking KMK rakatahi – a succession leadership plan in action. It is these rakatahi who we will be looking to, as tuākana on upcoming KMK rakatahi initiatives and as future iwi leaders. KMK would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Maurice Manawatu for sharing his extensive local knowledge and to Rawiri Manawatu and the whānau of Ngāti Kurī for their outstanding hospitality. A special mention goes to Rocky Roberts for supporting the kaupapa above and beyond. Aoraki Matatū!
Whānau, if you are travelling through to Kaikōura, be sure to stop in at the Caves Restaurant –you will receive warm hospitality, delicious kai and you will be supporting a local Kāi Tahu whānau business.
Matua Maurice Manawatū holding court at te pā o Pari Whakatau.
Matua Maurice Manawatū holding court at te pā o Pari Whakatau.
