{"id":3521,"date":"2023-05-08T11:22:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T11:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mahuru-maori-twoa-ac-nz.azurewebsites.net\/?p=3521"},"modified":"2023-09-04T01:23:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T01:23:38","slug":"a-journey-to-reconnect-with-maori-heritage-through-language-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/a-journey-to-reconnect-with-maori-heritage-through-language-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"A journey to reconnect with M\u0101ori heritage through language learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Liz, or Irih\u0101peti, grew up in Taranaki during the 1970s and 1980s, when being a proud M\u0101ori wasn\u2019t easy or fashionable. She has spent many years studying languages and holds a Master’s degree, but she chose to study European and some Asian languages rather than that of her t\u016bpuna.<\/p>

She returned home to Ng\u0101motu in 2017, after many years away as an English as a second language kaiako. In a foundation studies course she taught at Western Institute of Technology Taranaki, her tauira had to demonstrate a basic understanding of pepeha and Te Whare Tapa Wh\u0101 (Sir Mason Durie’s model of M\u0101ori health).<\/p>

“That was enough for me to question if I knew what I was teaching. I realised it was time to learn about my reo and t\u016bpuna M\u0101ori.”<\/p>

A one-day w\u0101nanga ignited the spark of learning te reo M\u0101ori. She enrolled in\u00a0He P\u012b Ka Pao (Level 2)<\/strong><\/a>, at Te W\u0101nanga o Aotearoa, \u00a0with Matua Canaan.<\/p>

“He had us laughing and enjoying ourselves from the outset.”<\/p>

The following year she completed\u00a0<\/strong>He P\u012b Ka Rere (Level 4)<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0with Whaea Cheryl, while working as an English kaiako at a Kura Kaupapa, filling in for a kaiako on study leave. This led to a part-time permanent teaching role at Te Kura Taitamawahine o Puke Ariki \/ NPGHS, which intended to become the first mainstream kura in Taranaki to make te reo M\u0101ori compulsory for Year 9 tauira (students).<\/p>

To continue her commitment to te reo M\u0101ori and to honour the tongue of her Ng\u0101ti Maniapoto t\u016bpuna, Liz enrolled in\u00a0Te R\u014dnakitanga (Level 5)<\/strong><\/a>. She’s taking it further by signing up for\u00a0Te Aupikitanga (Level 6)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0this year.<\/p>

Liz speaks fondly of the kaimahi and her fellow tauira at Te W\u0101nanga o Aotearoa. She agrees it has been a transformative experience right from the beginning.<\/p>

\u201cI love every minute of karakia, waiata, mihi, tikanga and reo that is shared.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cNo reira, e hoa ma, me manaaki, me tiaki i te arero o nga matua t\u016bpuna e! Kia kaha ki te k\u014drero Maori!\u201d<\/p>

Learn more about our te reo M\u0101ori programmes<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liz, or Irih\u0101peti, grew up in Taranaki during the 1970s and 1980s, when being a proud M\u0101ori wasn\u2019t easy or fashionable. “I realised it was time to learn about my reo and t\u016bpuna M\u0101ori.”<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-challenge-stories","category-reo-maori"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3521"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3532,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions\/3532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mahurumaori.com\/mao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}