The pōwhiri for the Kura Reo Taiao at Rongomaraeroa Marae at Te Papa. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
A three-day course at Te Papa in Wellington is bringing together te reo and the environment.
Kura Reo Taiao began with a pōwhiri on Monday at Rongomaraeroa, the marae of Te Papa, and will wrap up its final lessons on Wednesday.
Kura reo are three- to five-day full immersion courses in te reo, usually aimed at intermediate and advanced speakers. They give learners a chance to enter a te reo only environment, even if only for a few days.
Rangi Mātāmua, a teacher at Kura Reo Taiao, said no matter the goal it would revitalise the language - and this one was no different.
"Engari ki te Kura Reo Taiao ka aro te iwi, ngā kaiako, ngā akomanga me ngā tauira ki ngā kōrero taiao, ki ngā kupu reo taiao, i te mea he momo reo, he momo kōrero e hāngai ana ki te ngahere, ki te moana, ki ngā mahi pēnei te mahi tuna, te whakatipu kai nō reira koira te aronga me kī."
But at a Kura Reo Taiao the teachers, the students look at stories related to the environment, words related to the environment, because there is a specific voice the environment has, related to the forest, to the oceans, to fishing for eels, to growing food - so that is what we are looking at.
The Kura Reo Taiao began with a pōwhiri on Monday. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Mātāmua said his class would focus on whakataukī and whakatauākī, or Māori proverbs. Students would get the chance to examine some of animals and artefacts in Te Papa's collection.
"Koinei te take i toia mai te kaupapa ki kōnei i te mea he nui ngā taonga kei kōnei, koinei Te Papa Tongarewa kī ana ki te taonga, nō reira kua tīkina ētahi taonga kua hora ki ngā tēpū, ko ā mātau mahi he whakakōrero i ngā taonga."
That is why we brought this here, because there are so many treasures and artefacts here. This is Te Papa Tongarewa, full of treasures, so we will bring some of those treasures into the classroom and it will be our job to give them a voice.
As an example of a proverb related to the natural world. Mātāmua used the example "upokororo, kai kōhatu." (upokororo, eater of stones).
The upokororo, or grayling, is an extinct species of freshwater fish. Mātāmua said these fish would eat vegetation growing on stones in New Zealand's rivers.
"Anō nei ko te Upokororo kei te kai i te kōhatu, i te toka, nō reira i puta te whakataukī mō te tangata tino hiakai. Ahakoa te kai ka hora i mua i te aroaro ka kainga e ia, ko tētahi tangata rānei kei te tino hiakai ētahi wā e kore ia e kai i tērā kai engari nā te kaha o te hiakai ka kainga e ia."
It was as if the grayling was eating the stones themselves, so this became a proverb for someone who is famished - someone who would eat any food put in front of them, or someone who was so hungry they would eat food they would normally never touch.
Paulette Tamati-Elliffe is one of the teachers at the Kura Reo Taiao. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Pawai
Paulette Tamati-Elliffe was teaching a class on mahinga kai (food-gathering practices) in Te Waipounamu alongside her son Tumai Cassidy - although she said he would be taking the lead and she would only be providing support in class.
Te reo has grown very urbanised, so this kura reo would be a chance to reconnect language and environment, she said.
"Kei te whakapau kaha ake ki te whakarauora i tō tātau reo, engari he reo o te tāone, he reo o te akomanga, he reo o te kāinga ki rō tāone, me pehea te whakakaha i te hono ki tō tātau taiao, ki ngā atua Māori, ki te mahinga kai, ki ērā āhuatanga ngā tikanga katoa o te mahinga kai i te reo Māori."
We are putting in the effort to revive our language, but it's a city language, it's a classroom language - how do we strengthen the connection between the language and the environment, the Māori deities, to all those traditions of cultivation in the Māori language?
The pōwhiri for the Kura Reo Taiao at Rongomaraeroa Marae. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai
Both Mātāmua and Tamati-Elliffe said Māori - and in fact, all people - needed to be paying attention to the environment, given the ever-present spectre of climate change.
"Ko taku whakapae ko te oranga tonutanga o te reo he mahi ngātahi ki te oranga tonutanga o te taiao. Nā reira kua tawhiti pea, kua noho tawhiti te nuinga o te hunga Māori ki tōna taiao,"Tamati-Elliffe said.
I think continued survival of te reo goes hand-in-hand with the continued survival of the environment. So perhaps most Māori have grown distant from our environment.
While Mātāmua said if the environment was in trouble, then the people would be too.
"Ko tātau kei te kohuru i te taiao, me the pōhēhē nui ka ora tātau inā mate taiao, ka ora te tangata - kao. Ko tātau ko te taiao."
It's us that are killing the environment, and this delusion that if the environment is sick we will be fine - wrong. We are the environment.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
