Ko te hau o aumihi e papaki ana ki te kounga o te reo Māori me te manawa rahi o ngā kaikōrero rangatahi i eke ki ngā pae korokī a Ngā Manu Kōrero o Mataatua-Takitimu ki Tauranga Moana, i tū ki Whakatāne i te Wenerei nei.
E ai ki ngā kaiwhakahaere, ahakoa te tokoiti haere o ngā tamariki i whakataetae i tēnei tau, ko te kairangi o ngā kōrero me te aroha ki te reo Māori, he pāuaua tonu.
“He tino rawe te kounga o te reo, te tāera o ngā tamariki i tēnei tau, ā rātou kaupapa kōrero,” te kōrero a Ngarimu Daniels, tumuaki o Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Orini ki Ngāti Awa, te kaipupuri i te mauri o te hui i tēnei tau.
“He maha ngā rangatahi kua whiriwhiri i wā rātou ake kaupapa i tēnei tau, nō reira he rawe te whakarongo atu ki wā rātou whakaaro.”
17 ngā tuakana, 19 hoki ngā teina i whakataetae i tēnei tau, nō ngā kura o te rohe, atu i Ngā Kuri a Whārei ki Tihirau. I ngā tau ki muri, kua nui ake i tērā.
Hei tā Daniels, he tokoiti nā runga pea i ngā kaupapa o te wā.
“Ko te kapa haka ā motu tērā e kainamu mai ana, wētahi atu kaupapa o te wā. Engari e kite ana mātou kei reira tonu e pīkoko tonu ana ā tātou tamariki ki te reo.”
I te hītori o te whakataetae ā-motu, nā Tāmati Waaka te nuinga o ngā toahanga ā-motu i te wāhanga o Pei Te Hurinui Jones (tuakana reo Māori), arā, i ngā tau e 95, e 96, e 97 anō hoki. I ēnei rā, ko āna ake uri kei te ketekete mai ki te whakataetae. Ā, e ai ki a ia, ko tēnei tonu te rohe kaha rawa mō te Pei Te Hurinui.
“Ko taku rongo kōrero ake ko ngā rohe o te motu kua mimiti, kua tino mimiti. Waimarie kua eke ki te rima ngā kaikōrero o roto i ‘Te Pei’, nō reira e harikoa ana.”
Ka nui hoki tāna mihi ki te tū kaha a ngā kura aunoa me ngā kura Māori o te rohe.
“E harikoa ana te kite kei te ū tonu tō tātou rohe.”
Ngā Manu Toa
Tokowhā ngā ākonga kua puta te ihu i tēnei whakataetae, hei kanohi mō te rohe o Mataatua-Tākitimu (Tauranga Moana) ki te whakataetae ā-motu o Ngā Manu Kōrero ka tū ki Kaikohe, i Te Taitokerau hei te Hepetema. E toru o rātou, nō Kawerau.
Ko te toa i te wāhanga o Pei Te Hurinui Jones, ko Hineipare Olsen-McGarvey nō Te Whatatau o Pūtauaki.
“Kua ngana au ki roto i ēnei mahi mō te toru tau ināianei, e waimarie ana ahau kei a au tētahi tino tangata e tino akiaki ana i ahau, ko taku pāpā,” hei tāna.
Kurekure katoa hoki ia ki te kite i tana hapori tonu e eke ana.
“Mutunga mai o te harikoa i tū aku teina i te rā nei, mutunga mai o te whakahīhī ki a rāua.”
Nō Te Whatatau o Pūtauaki anō, ko Te Aroha Salmon i toa i te wāhanga o Rāwhiti Ihaka (teina reo Māori).
Mo tana ekenga, he iti āna kupu, engari he nui te kōrero: “Tukuna tō reo kia rere, kaua e tatari, kaua e whakamā.”
I te wāhanga mō te Korimako (teina reo Pākehā), ko Sidney Waiari nō Te Heikura o Tarawera i toa tuatahi mai. Ā, kua mārama kehokeho mai tana kite i te hirahira o tēnei whakataetae ki tana reanga.
“I wasn’t actually expecting a first but I’m really humbled and I really thank the judges,” te kōrero a Waiari.
“We need a lot more of the younger ones’ voices. I feel like our generation is left out and I feel like this kaupapa is how we get our voice out there.”
Ko te toa o te wāhanga mō Tā Turi Kara (tuakana reo Pākehā), ko Khianni Leigh nō Te Kura Mana Māori o Whangaparāoa.
“Speaking English is what I know but I am trying to move forward in speaking Māori so maybe next year I can represent as a senior Māori instead of a senior English,” hei tā Leigh.
Te Ara Manu Kōrero
E mea ana ngā kaiwhakahaere kua huri te aro ki te whakatū kaupapa hei awhi i ngā mahi whakatikatika, whakakipakipa hoki i ngā rangatahi maha kia kuhu ki tēnei whakataetae.
“Kua puta ngā kōrero kia whakahaerehia ētahi wānanga hei whakangungu, hei whakarite i ngā tauira. Kia māia ake rātou ki te tū ki te tuku i wā rātou kauhau ki te reo Māori,” tā Daniels kōrero.
Hei tāna, ko ngā uri kaha ki te kōrero Māori e ahu mai ana i ngā kāinga, he Māori te reo o ia rā, o ia rā.
“Kia kaha tātou katoa, kia ūkaipōtia te reo, kōrero Māori i ngā wā katoa ki ngā wāhi katoa kia Māori noa te rere o te kōrero.”
Arā hoki te kōrero whakakipakipa a Olsen-McGarvey, te toa o ‘Te Pei’ o Mataatua-Tākitimu i tēnei tau, ki te hunga horokukū pea ki ngā mahi a te manu kōrero.
“He tino pērā te hunga rangatahi ki taku mōhio, e ware ana mō ngā whakaaro o tētahi atu, kaua e warea,” hei tāna.
“Me tū koe mōu anō.”
