“Don’t wait for the government to recognise it, just do it” are the words of Moriori descendant and CEO of Hotokehi Trust, Maui Solomon, one of many from Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands, celebrating the culture’s first ever language week in Aotearoa - Ta Wik’ a Ta Rē Moriori.
Despite years of work, the trust has struggled to gain national recognition of the week. A request made to the crown during treaty negotiations pushing for ta rē to be acknowledged as an official language is said to have been declined.
“Even though it’s not official, it’s still from our cultural perspective official, and we’ve really been overwhelmed by the level of support that’s been shown for it.” says Solomon.
It is believed that the last fluent speaker of the language, Hirawanu Tapu, died in the early 1900s. Moriori descendants have since worked to revitalise the language using old documents from national archives and private collections, many over 100 years old, and some left by Pākeha scholars. This resurgence is said to have started in the early 2000s, Solomon saying the timing of the language week to be historically significant.
“We’re able to reconstruct a body of tukupu (words) and start evolving our language... Like any revitalising language, there will be mistakes along the way. There will be new terms, new tikane (tikanga) and phrases that we will need to develop and evolve” says Solomon.
Ta rē Moriori is a proto-Polynesian language meaning it shares similarities with te reo Māori, as well as languages like that of Rarotonga and Tahiti. In some cases, the Māori prefix whaka becomes hoko, changing whakapapa to hokopapa.
Te Mātāwai, an organisation dedicated to revitalising te reo Māori, is one of the main supporters of the week. Board representative and Poutaki of Te Tai Tonga, Kiwa Hammond, has been credited with championing the renaissance of ta rē and tikane Moriori. Solomon says the work could never have been done in isolation.
“Māori have always been - particularly on the mainland - tremendously supportive of revival of our culture and recognition of Moriori. I remember very fondly when the late Te Ariki Nui Te Atairangikaahu and Tā Tumu Te Heuheu both attended the opening of Kōpinga Marae in 2005. So, we’ve always had that strong tautoko from our whanauka in Aotearoa”.
CEO of Te Taura Whiri (Māori Language Commission), Ngahiwi Apanui, believes the strong connection of Moriori and Māori through history and ancestry are reason to ensure continual support for the movement.
“Kāore e kore i roto i ngā rua rau tau kua taha ake nei. I tūkinotia te iwi kāinga o Rēkohu, nā reira me tautoko ka tika i runga anō i te hononga whakapapa, te hononga reo. Me te mea anō hoki, kei raro tonu rātou i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, e manaakitia ana, e tiakina ana e Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nā reira, ki a au, ahakoa ko te tuatahi tēnei me tautoko, ā, me mihi anō hoki ki a rātou i pōkaikaha nei, ahakoa ngā uauatanga o ngā rua rau tau kua taha kē nei”.
“Kaua e tatari kia whakaae mai, kia mana ō whakahaere i te Kāwana. Me mana i a koutou anō, koutou te reo. Nā reira, mēnā e whakaae ana te iwi mōriori, anā, kia whakahaeretia i ia tau he wiki mō tō rātou ake reo” says Ngahiwi.
The week will run till the 23 November, celebrated through online lessons and events across Rēkohu, Ōtautahi and other parts of the country.
The hope now is for the language to grow. Solomon says he wants to see community members become fluent in his lifetime or at least be able to recite karakī (karakia) or rongo (waiata) proudly.
“You know, I think our karāpuna are going to be very, very happy when all those tchmirik’ and our people gather around the pou at Kōpinga and they hear their tare being spoken again. So that’s a wonderful achievement.”
