Column: Te Hōhaieti o Te Reo Māori | Māori Language Society

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I te tau 1969 i whakaritea ngā tauira o Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria he rōpū e tautoko ana, e whakawhanake ana i te reo Māori ki te whare wānanga, ā, ko Te Reo Māori Society tērā. 

I te takiwā o te tau 1971, ka puta te kōrero a te kaumātua o te Kotahitanga a te Ouenuku (Joe) Rene o Ngāti Toa Rangatira, mō te reo ki āna tauira. He kaumātua ngākau nui ana ki te reo Māori o Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria, ka wero atu ia ki ngā tauira.  

“E tama mā, e hine mā. Tērā te atua e pātai mai ki a koutou, I pēwhea e koutou te reo rangatira i hoatungia nā e au, ki a koutou” 

E ai ki a Te Kapunga Dewes, nō muri mai i tō rātou rangona i te wero, ka heke te werawera i āna tauira kia tū pakari te rōpū o Te Reo Māori Society, te rōpū ā-motu rongonui. Ko ngā tauira o Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria ngā kaiwhakahaere, ā, ma rātou te kaupapa nei e whanake. Ka noho te kōmiti hei matakahi mō ngā kōkiritanga kia ākona whānuitia, kia puritia, kia whakamanaia hoki te reo Māori i ngā tauira o te whare wānanga me te motu whānui. 

I te tau 1972, ka hui tahi Te Reo Māori Society me Ngā Tamatoa, ngā ropū reo Māori o Te Whare Wānanga o Wikitōria me Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau ki te wānanga mō te reo Māori ki ngā kura. I te marama o Mahuru ka whakatakoto te petihana ki te whare paremata kia whakamanatia te reo Māori ki ngā kura. Ka neke atu i te 30,000 ngā ingoa i haina i te petihana.