I pānui a Hēmi Kelly, pūkenga reo Māori nō AUT i te pukapuka hou e whakatutū nei i te puehu nā te tohunga hītōria Pākehā, nā Paul Moon kia kore ai koe e mate ki te pānui. Ko te ingoa o te pukapuka ko Killing Te Reo Maori.

Kite tonu atu au e tamō ana te tohutō i runga ake i te kupu Māori.

I te tirohanga tuatahitanga atu e kūmea mai ana au e te whakaahua o te uwhi o te pukapuka hōu a Ahorangi Paul Moon. He whakairo, tawhito nei te āhua, o tētehi tangata kua tāia ki te moko, ā, he hurungutu hoki ōna. E kānapanapa mai ana te pounamu o te uwhi i ngā mata o te whakairo kua tīkarohia. Kāore au e mārama he aha te hāngai o tēnei whakaahua, ā, kāore hoki he whakamārama.

E whai ana a Killing Te Reo Māori i tana pukapuka o mua atu, Ka Ngaro Te Reo: Māori Language Under Siege in the Nineteenth Century (2016). He kōrero hītōria tēnei mō te reo Māori i waenganui i te tau 1800 me te tau 1899. He takiwā tēnei o te reo kāore anō i rangahaua whānuitia. Koinā te tohungatanga o Paul Moon, he mātanga hītōria ia. Ehara ia i te mātanga wetereo. Ehara ia i te ākonga, i te kaikōrero, i te kaiako rānei o te reo Māori, ā, kāore hoki ia e whai wāhi mai ki ngā kaupapa reo Māori kei roto, kei waho anō hoki i tō mātou tari, nā konā i kūmea ai au ki te pānui i ōna whakaaro mō te reo Māori e tāmatemate nei.

E whā ngā wāhanga o te pukapuka nei: The Present Condition of Te Reo Māori, Te Reo Māori Status Issues, The Jubilant Monster (ko tō te kairaupatu reo tēnei) and The ‘Sovietisation’ of Te Reo Māori (he kōrero mō te pānga o te ōhanga ki te reo). I whakaae au ki ētehi o ngā kōrero i puta mai i āna whakatewhatewha, engari ehara i te kōrero hōu.

Kāore i roa taku pānui ka takeo au i te rite tonu o tāna kōrero mō te kino o te āhua o te reo mā roto mai i āna kupu whakarite. Ka whakaritea e ia te reo Māori ki te tūroro e whakahemohemo ana, ā, hei tāna, mā te whakanoho i te reo hei kaupapa here e tepe noa ai te rere o te toto. Ka whakarite hoki ia i te heke haere o ngā kaikōrero ki te hanehane kāore nei e mutu te totoro, ā, ko tāna whakarite mō te Kōhanga Reo, ko te kaipuke e totohu haere ana. Kei te tihi o tēnei kohinga huahuatau ko tāna whakarite i te hapori reo Māori, i ngā kaiwhakarauora i te reo, ki te papata:

“…if Te Reo Māori was to cease being a living language, it is possible to envisage language revivalists still scurrying around, committed to their research and schemes – like the apocryphal cockroaches surviving a nuclear war and clambering over the rubble of their annihilated world.”

E mōhio ana ahau i roto i te ao mātauranga e tika ana te arohaehae i ngā kaupapa here, i ngā kaupapa rangahau me “ngā whakaaro kua toka mō te huarahi e whakarauoratia mai ai te reo”, engari e kore rawa atu e tika te āhua o tāna karawhiu i te hapori ki te kupu hākiki, ki te kupu whakamanioro. Kāore pea a Moon i mahara, kāore ngā kaiwhakarauora reo Māori e mahi ana i roto noa iho i te ao mātauranga. Engari, kei te whatumanawa kē o te hapori ngā mahi whakarauora reo. Ko ngā kaiwhakarauora ko ngā pakeke me ngā kaumātua, ko ngā kaiako me ngā kaiārahi, ko ngā tāngata e ako ana, e kōrero ana, e whakaako ana rānei i te reo, rā atu, rā mai.

Kei te wāhanga tuatahi me te wāhanga tuarua āna kōrero mō ngā āhuatanga o te reo. I tumeke au i te māia o te kore mōhio ki te āta tuhituhi he aha rā tēnei mea, te mātau o te tangata ki te reo. Whārikihia mai ana e ia ngā hē e rite tonu nei te puta mai i te aromatawaitanga o te mātau o te tangata ki te reo. Ka kōrero hoki ia i te kawenga a te tangata i ako i te reo hei reo tuarua me tana kore i āhei ki te whakatau i te tangi o te reo a te tangata i tupu mai ko te reo Māori tōna reo tuatahi.

Kātahi a Moon ka tahuri ki te kaupapa kei te poti o te ngutu o te ao pāpāho. Ko tāna whakapae, nā te kaha o te aronga ki te whakahua tika i whakapeka ai ētehi ki te ako, i kore ai hoki te reo e ora. I te wāhanga mō te whakahua ‘tika’, ka puta tāna kupu e mea ana he tangongitanga ā-whakahua ō ngā reo katoa, ā, ka rere tana pātai mehemea rā kotahi noa iho rānei te whakahuatanga tika o te reo Māori. Ki te whakaarotia ake ngā reo ā-iwi ka pā kē ērā ki te tangi, otirā ki te piki me te heke o te reo, engari kāore e pērā rawa te kaha o te tangongitanga o te whakahua i te kupu. Māku e kī atu, ehara, kotahi anō te whakahuatanga tika o te reo Māori. Ki a au nei, ko te aronga kē a ngā mātanga reo ko te whai, ko te kore rānei o ētehi i whai ki te whakahua i ngā ingoa tangata me ngā ingoa wāhi, kei reira kē te aronga matua.

Kei te wāhanga tuarua anō, ka kīia ngā mahi katoa e ngarengare ana i te tangata ki te ako, ki te kōrero rānei i te reo, he horihori noa iho. Hei tāna, nā te whakatapu me te whakataonga i te reo i herea ai te taumaha o te ahurea Māori ki te reo, ā, he utanga nui tēnei e kore e taea e ētehi te waha, me te aha, whakaero ana tērā, te hunga e ū ana ki te ako i te reo. Ka tāpirihia hoki ki ēnei horihori ngā whakatairanga e mea ana ‘he reo ātaahua’ te reo Māori. Ki tāna, he kōrero hauwarea noa iho tēnei hei arotake mā tēnā, mā tēnā. Kia kī noa ake au, he hāpaki kutu tā te kanohi tore, ā, kei matara noa atu hoki ana kōrero i te hapori e mōhio ana ki ngā uaua me ngā pai o te ako i te reo Māori.

I te tukunga iho, ko tā ngā kaupapa whakarauora reo Māori katoa, ā mohoa noa nei he whakamōtī i te reo. Kia heahea hoki! Me kore ake ngā kaupapa kua takoto i roto i ngā whā tekau mā hia tau e ora nei te reo Māori. He nui noa ake ngā pātai i ngā kupu mō te mahi me oti kia kore ai te reo e mate rawa. Heoi anō, me i tāpaea mai he kupu ko te rite tēnā o te tākuta roro more e homai rongoā ana ki te tūroro hei whakamahu i tētehi mate e tauhōu ana ki a ia. Ko te kupu kotahi i homai, me whakanui ake te hiahia ki te kōrero i te reo, ā, me whai hoki ngā āhuatanga o te reo Pākehā i nui ai te hiahiatia ōna, huri noa i te ao. Kua roa te reo Māori e takahia ana, me te aha anō, kua whānui haere te taiororua i waenganui i ngā reo. Me i pērā rawa te māmā o te whakatutuki i tāna i kī mai ai, kua tutuki noa atu. Waiho atu te hunga mātau ki tāna mahi.

Kua tara te wai i tēnei pukapuka. Kua puta mai te hapori reo Māori i ngā pae-pāho ki te whakaatu mai i ngā wheko pai o te ako o te reo ki te tohumarau #goodreostories. E ai ki ngā tatauranga, kāore anō te reo kia hoki rawa mai i te taparerenga o te pari, engari e ngākau rorotu ana ahau. Kua kaha ake te arohia o te reo i ngā tau tata nei, kua kaha ake hoki te whakamahia o te reo e te ao pāpāho auraki me te hapori whānui, ā, i roto anō i aku mahi e pōī mai ana mahi a te tangata ki te ako i te reo. E mōhio ana ahau ka ora tonu te reo, ā, ahu ake. Kāti, anei te kōrero a Ahorangi Leanne Hinton i whakanoia ki te rārangi Tīhau a Jeanette King, ā, e whakaae mārire atu ana ahau:

“Language revitalisation and its successes are individualistic, varied, evolving and often small, yet leading toward growth. Success is not an endpoint but a process.”

Click here to read this review in English.