Nau mai, tomo mai rā ki tēnei whare rangahau, ki tēnei whare kōrero āku.

I roto i tōna 50 tau nei (1972-2002), nā wai i āhua ‘marae puehu,’ ka poua ko ngā kaupapa reo Māori, tū mai ana ko te ‘whare o te reo Māori.’ Ko te ‘whare’ e kōrero nei ahau, ehara i te whare kikokiko nei, engari ia he whare hei ariā mō te ao o te whakarauora reo Māori mai anō i te kawenga atu o te petihana reo Māori ki te Whare Pāremata i te tau 1972. E whakaritea ana e ahau ki te ‘whare’ nā te mea ko te whare te tino āhurutanga o te tangata. He tāhū tōna, he pou ōna e tū ai. He pakitara ōna, e whakawehea ai ngā mea o roto i ngā mea o waho. He kawa, he tikanga ōna e pai ai ōna whakahaere.

He mana tō te kupu, otirā ko tā te kupu he whakatupu, he whakaū hoki i te mana o te tangata. Nō reira, kei roto i te whare o te reo Māori nei, e whakaaweawe nui ana te hunga whaikupu i ōna whakahaere me ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki te tomo rānei, ki te kore rānei e tomo o ērā kei waho o te whare. Ko te nuinga o te iwi Māori ināianei, kei waho kē o te whare nei.

Mō te āhua ki taku whare rangahau, ehara noa i te rangahau reo Māori, engari ia he rangahau Kaupapa Māori tonu. E ono rawa ngā mātāpono o te Kaupapa Māori e tika ai kia kīia he Kaupapa Māori whaihua.

I tēnei rangahau, ka tūhuratia te nunumi o ngā mātāpono o te Kaupapa Māori i tērā e kīia nei ko ngā ‘taonga tuku iho.’ Ko tētehi tonu o ngā mātāpono e tino whakawarewaretia ana, ko te ‘piki ake i ngā raru o te kāinga.’ Nō reira, koia tonu hei tino whakatāuteutetanga māku, me taku whakapae, nā tēnei mea te moni i piki ai ētehi i ngā raruraru o te kāinga, ko ētehi kē ia, tapoko kau atu ana i aua raruraru rā. I roto i te āhua 40 tau ka pahemo ake nei, e haere ana ngā mahi o roto i te ‘whare o te reo māori’ engari me te kaha kē atu o te tetē o ngā niho o te moni kei roto i ngā kaupapa a te kāwanatanga, otirā me ngā karawhiu mai o te ao hurihuri.

Ka tomokia ana taku whare rangahau, ka tae ki ngā pou e toru o te whare: Kei te pou mataaho, he whakakaupapa i te rangahau te mahi, ko ngā upoko 1-3 ēnei. Ko ngā pātai e pā ana ki te rangahau, ko ēnei nā: Nā wai, ā, nō whea hoki te kairangahau? He aha te kaupapa rangahau? He aha te huarahi rangahau e whāia ana? Ka whakatūria ake ko Te Whare o te Reo Māori hei ariā mō te 50 tau o te whakarauoratanga reo Māori, ā, ka whakaahuangia taua whare rā.

Tae rawa ki te pou tokomanawa (upoko 4-6), ka mātua uia te pātai ‘Mō wai te reo Māori?’ (Upoko 4), ā, ka tūhuratia ngā kōrero mō te pīkoko o te tangata, mō te waimarie kē rānei ōna e tomokia ai e ia te whare o te reo Māori.

Ki te Upoko Tuarima tātaihia ai ngā whakapapa kōrero mō te ‘tuakiri’ Māori, arā, he kupu Māori ‘hou,’ e mea nei au he tohu nō te uruuru mai o ētehi mātāpono kē atu ki te ao Māori. Ka tōmenetia hoki ngā taukumekume o te whāinga kia noho ko te reo Māori hei tohu i te tuakiri ā-motu o Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu.

Ki te Upoko Tuaono tōmenehia ai tētehi atu kupu Māori ‘hou.’ Tuatahi ake, ka tātai i ngā whakapapa o ngā kupu nei, a ‘ohaoha’ me ‘ōhanga’ (=economy) me kore noa ka kitea āe rānei e urutomokia ana te reo Māori, he haehae i te mātāpono Māori. Ka tūhurangia ngā mātāpono e pā ana ki te hanga kupu Māori hou, me te whakaaro kāore noa iho te ariā o te ‘economy’ e ‘haere maro-kore’ noa mai ki roto i te reo Māori.

Ki te Upoko Tuawhitu ka whiriwhirihia ngā whakaaro hei whakautu i ngā pātai o te rangahau. Tae rawa ki te Upoko Tuawaru, ka tōia te kūwaha o te kaupapa nei kia kati.

Nā, ko au tēnei, kua waimarie i te 40 tau neke atu ōku e whakaruruhia ana i roto i te ‘whare reo Māori,’ i te ‘whare Kaupapa Māori’ hoki, kua neke atu hoki i te 20 tau ōku e kura mahita ana i te Kura Kaupapa Māori. Ko taku tūmanako, mā taku whare rangahau e paku hinātore mai ai ētehi tūāhuatanga o te ‘whare o te reo Māori,’ me kore noa, ka kitea ētehi o ngā mātāpono e mahi ana i roto i te whare, i waho anō hoki.