Mā ngā kāwanatanga puta noa i te ao e whakamahi te ture e tiakina ai ngā reo taketake hei tā te Toihau o Te Taura Whiri o te Reo Māori, Rawinia Higgins.
Governments around the world need to use the law to protect indigenous languages, Māori Language Commissioner Rawinia Higgins says.
Read this story in English here.
E ai ki a Rawinia, kua nui rawa atu te whanaketanga a Aotearoa nō te 1972, te eke ai ngā tāngata ki te Pāremata, tonoa ai tā te Kāwanatanga tautoko i te tiaki o te reo Māori.
Higgins said Aotearoa has come a very long way since 1972 when people marched on Parliament calling for the Government to help safeguard te reo Māori.
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“Nōku i kōrero atu ki te Kotahitanga o Ngā Iwi o te Ao i te Tīhema, i tono au i ngā kāwanatanga o te ao kia whakamahia te ture e tiakina ai ngā reo taketake, kia tīmata hoki te whakamanatia o ēnā hei reo ā-ture,” hei tāna.
“When I addressed the United Nations in December, I called on world governments to use the law to protect indigenous languages and to start by making them official languages,” she said.
“Koia tēnei tētahi mea hirahira e taea nei e ngā kāwanatanga, ā, ko tō tātou tētahi o [ngā kāwanatanga] ruarua kua pēnā, kua 36 tau hei tēnei Ākuhata.”
“This is one very powerful thing a government can do, and so far ours is one of the only [governments] to do so, 36 years ago this August.”
I te Rangi Reo Taketake ā-Ao i tērā marama, tērā te Kaipūrongo Motuhake a te UN mō ngā take iwi tokoiti Fernand de Varennes i mea atu, me tapatahi ake te mahi a ngā whenua i tā rātou manaaki me te whakamahi i ngā reo o te iwi tokoiti me te iwi taketake.
On International Mother Language Day last month, UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Fernand de Varennes said countries needed to be more inclusive in their treatment and use of minority and indigenous languages.
“He taputapu waiwai ngā reo mō te whakawhitinga kōrero me te tukunga mātauranga, te maharatanga, me ngā kōrero o mua, engari koia ērā hoki te ara ki te mahinga tahitanga me te mana ōrite,” tāna kī mai.
“Languages are essential tools to communicate and share knowledge, memory, and history, but they are also key to full and equal participation,” he said.
“Ko tētahi o ngā ara pai rawa atu kia whakamanahia ngā iwi tokoiti, me ngā iwi taketake, ko te whakamana i te rere o tō rātou reo i te mātauranga, me te whakarato i ngā ratonga tūmatanui me ngā whaiwāhitanga whiwhinga mahi i ēnei reo.”
“One of the most effective ways of empowering minorities and indigenous peoples is to guarantee the use of their language in education, and to provide public services and employments opportunities in these languages.”
MONIQUE FORD / STUFF
Stuff reporter Joel Maxwell, who spoke only te reo Māori for the month of September, heads out to kōrero with people in Pōneke.
Kua kī a Fernand, he take mana tangata hirahira hoki ngā mana reo ki ngā iwi tokoiti me ngā iwi taketake.
De Varennes said language rights were also important human rights matters for both minorities and indigenous peoples.
“Kei whakawhāiti i te rere o ngā reo o te iwi tokoiti me te iwi taketake i te mātauranga, me haumi atu ngā whenua ki te whanaketanga o ngā rauemi whakaako, te whakangungu o ngā pouako, me te whakatairanga i te reo rangatira hei reo whakaako,” tāna kī mai.
“Rather than reducing the use of minority and indigenous languages in education, states should invest in the development of teaching materials, the training of teachers and the promotion of mother tongue as a medium of instruction,” he said.
“Koia tēnei te huarahi pai rawa e whakatūturutia ai te mana ōrite me te korenga o te whakahāwea i te horopaki o te ture ā-ao.”
“This is the most effective way of guaranteeing equality and non-discrimination with respect to international law.”
E waiwai ana kia hūnuku atu i ngā momo hōu o te tāwheta ā-whenua aronga takitini e whakapae ana me kotahi anake te reo ki ngā pāpori, me whakataha te katoa o ngā reo anō, tā Fernand kōrero.
It was essential to move away from new forms of nationalist majoritarianism that assume that societies should have only one language to the exclusion of all others, de Varennes said.
“Kāore tēnei e ōrite ana ki ngā pāpori tapatahi e whakaute ana i ngā mana tāngata ā-reo o ngā iwi tokoiti me ngā iwi taketake,” hei tāna.
“This is inconsistent with inclusive societies that are respectful of the human rights of linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples,” he said.
E ai ki ngā raraunga a Tatauranga Aotearoa, kua tata hauwhā te iwi Māori e tupu ana me te reo Māori hei reo matua, ā, e 3 i ia 5 ngāi Aotearoa e kōingo ana ki te whakaakona o te reo i ngā kura tuatahi.
Stats NZ figures reveal almost a quarter of all Māori people are growing up with te reo as their first language while 3 in 5 New Zealanders want te reo taught in primary schools.
“Me whai e tātou ngā arero reo Māori 1 miriona hei te 2040 e whakahaumarutia ai te reo, i waenga i te Karauna me ngā iwi, waihoki ngāi Aotearoa whānui,” te kupu a Rawinia.
“We need 1 million speakers of te reo by 2040 to safeguard the language and between the Crown and iwi, as well as all New Zealanders,” Higgins said.
“Mēnā rānei kua rawaka ā mātou mahi? Taihoa e kite. Heoti, e takahi tonu ana i te ara.”
“Whether we are doing enough? Time will tell. But meanwhile, the journey continues.”
He mea whakamāori e te Kaihautū Reo Māori ki Puna, e Taurapa.
Translation by Stuff Kaihautū Reo Māori Taurapa.
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