What has the pursuit of reclaiming te reo Māori required from you?
Tāne made the climb, met the big guy - Io i.e. realised his potential - collected ngā kete o te wānanga/mātauranga (baskets of knowledge) then made his way back down to share the fruits of his pursuits with others.
I’ve heard kōrero that Tāne left other kete at Tikitikiorangi (Uppermost 12th Heaven). That there were plenty to choose from and he selected his three, to accompany him on the descent back down to earth. Well, some questions come to mind;
why only three, why those three, what do the others contain and will we ever access them?
This is what comes up for me anyway, but what about you? Have you heard this idea before? What do you reckon?
While you’re ruminating on that, let’s get familiar with the kete we do know about. Ko te kete tuauri/uruutipua, ko te kete tuatea/uruurutawhito, ko te kete aronui/uruurumatua. The baskets, as per the sequence above;
of sacred knowledge, of ancestral knowledge, of life's knowledge.*
connected with ritual matters, sacerdotal formulae and ceremonial; concerned with evil in all its phases and ramifications; pertaining to peace and the arts of peace, everything that serves to promote the welfare of man.°
of ritual, all invocations, charms, etc. as used for all purposes; of evil or pernicious arts and knowledge; of all beneficial arts and knowledge; the “basket” of good.^
I think we could get lost down a philosophical black hole if we indulge in those questions too much or too deeply but if we approach them with healthy curiosity, I think it might help spark new thinking.
So we’re gonna pivot a little bit and think of how we could instead interpret and apply this wānanga to our lives today in our own pursuits, and consider;
what the journey requires of us
what we choose to take or leave behind
what we do with our own kete and their contents.
With it being the week and month for it,
shall we focus our wānanga on our pursuits of reclaiming te reo Māori?
Ok, cool, same. Lol. Anyway…
We’re all at different phases of the journey and it’s required from us varying levels of humility, sacrifice, discipline, determination, conviction, commitment and faith to name a few virtues.
Some, like the generation above, have had to brave the internal and external attacks from expressions of Whiro and Te Aitanga a Pepeke and seek out some kind of foundation for te reo Māori. They protested, petitioned, and championed legislative change for the opportunity to bring it back to their own whakapapa lines and to their communities. Hai tauira; Ngā Tama Toa, Ngāi Tauira, Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori movements.
Some, belong to whānau who were physically, mentally, spiritually and psychologically abused for speaking te reo Māori so refused to let their tamariki suffer the same fate and ‘left those kete behind’ i.e. ceased any further communications in te reo Māori. They were doing what they believed was best to protect themselves and those they loved.
Consequently, people on this journey confront, retrace, unpack and carry a lot of that mamae, for their elders, their whānau and for themselves for not knowing their reo and all that comes with — for being denied of their birthright.
Some, like myself, were fortunate to grow up in homes and a life immersed in te reo Māori - most belong to whānau of the first group I mentioned above, so have a responsibility to continue that legacy and add to it in some way.
Some, non-Māori, must learn to play a supporting role and hold space.
Whichever journey or part of it you’re on,
the reclamation and revitalisation of te reo Māori will require something of you.
The generations before us fought their fight to set up kohanga, kura, iwi broadcasting stations and change legislations — and some are still at it today!
It might require you to get uncomfortable, feel vulnerable and exposed as you fumble with the words that your heart and soul know and remember but remain foreign to the mouth and ears, for now…
It might require you to confront your privilege of knowing te reo Māori intimately; as a native-speaker, being immersed in it or having easy access to it. Yes, it’s a birthright — but what are you giving back to it? What is your role in making sure more of our people enjoy that same birthright, as you did?
It might require you to sit with the resentment, sadness or other ill-feelings towards others for having the reo if you don’t yet have it or know it. Whether it’s them directly or perhaps it’s the church and the impact it’s had? Maybe it’s your own parents or grandparents? This journey might require you to heal that mamae.
Our journeys are intertwined, the same path in the bigger scheme of things and they will all require something of us, that much is certain. Along the way, we must choose what to take with us and what to leave behind and then choose what we do with our own kete and the contents inside.
This goes for te reo Māori as much as it does for everything else we’re in pursuit of.
Kia kakama tātou, ngā mihi maioha,
Hana.
The links below are for the definitions of each of the kete:
ºMāori Religion & Mythology Part I, Elsdon Best
^JPS