Te taenga mai o te petihana reo Māori – Arrival of the Māori language petition

14 September 1972

Māori language petition being delivered to Parliament
Māori language petition being delivered to Parliament (Auckland Star collection)

Te Reo Māori

I te 14 o Mahuru, 1972, i kawea tētahi petihana ki te pāremata, e wero ana i ngā kaitōrangapū kia whakaaro nui mai ki te whakaora i te reo Māori. I kohia e te petihana nei te 30,000 ngā waitohu puta noa i Aotearoa, otirā i hua ake i ngā mahi a Ngā Tamatoa, a Te Reo Māori Society me Te Huinga Rangatahi. He mea kawe te petihana ki te pāremata i runga anō i te tautoko o ngā tini kaumātua. I tēnei whakaahua, ko te kaumātua e ārahi ana i te tira ko Te Ouenuku Rene (Ngāti Toa).

I roto a Hana Te Hemara Jackson (Te Āti Awa me Ngāti Raukawa) i a Ngā Tamatoa, otirā ko ia tētahi o ngā kaiwhakarite, ā, nāna te petihana i tāpae. I roto i te tāpaetanga o te petihana, hei tāna, ko te kōrero i te reo Māori:

te tohu tūturu o te tuakiri Māori ... Ko te āhei ki te kōrero Māori, te whakaputanga tūturu rawa o tō tātou Māoritanga. Ko ia te ngako o tō tātou Māoritanga. Ko ia anō te hononga ki te wā o mua, ōna painga me ōna kino. Ko ia tō tātou hononga ki ō tātou tīpuna.

He kupu nā Hana Te Hemara Jackson, ki Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti, Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: He Pōrongo o ngā Tono e Pā ana ki te Ture me ngā Kaupapahere o Aotearoa e Pā ana ki Te Ahurea me te Tuakiri Māori, Te Taumata Tuarua, Puka 2, WAI262, Te Whanganui-a-Tara: Legislation Direct, 2011, p 395

Hei tohu i te rā, i karangahia ko te 14 o Mahuru 1972 Te Rā o te Reo Māori. E toru tau i muri mai, i whakawhānuitia ki Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

English

On 14 September 1972, a petition was delivered to Parliament which challenged politicians to prioritise saving te reo Māori. The petition, which had gathered 30,000 signatures from across Aotearoa, had emerged out of the efforts of Ngā Tamatoa, Te Reo Māori Society and Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association). The petition was delivered to Parliament with the support of many kaumātua. In this photograph, the kaumātua leading the group is Te Ouenuku Rene (Ngāti Toa).

Hana Te Hemara Jackson (Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa) of Ngā Tamatoa, one of the organisers, presented the petition. In the submission that accompanied it, she said speaking Māori was:

the only real symbol of Maori identity ... For us to be able to speak Maori is the truest expression of our Maori tanga. It is the substance of our Maori tanga. It is our link with the past and all its glories and tragedies. It is our link with our tipuna.

Hana Te Hemara Jackson, quoted in Waitangi Tribunal, Ko Aotearoa tēnei: a report into claims concerning New Zealand law and policy affecting Māori culture and identity, Te taumata tuarua, Volume 2, WAI262, Wellington: Legislation Direct, 2011, p. 395

To mark the event, 14 September was declared Māori Language Day. Three years later this was expanded to Māori Language Week.

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