Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai
Issue edited by Te Rātā Campbell
He uri tēnei nō Te Rarawa me Te Aupōuri. I tipu ake i te Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa.
Tuituia ngā taura kahika
Tuituia ngā taura tangata
Tuituia ngā taura o Te Tumu Herenga Waka
Kei ngā karangaranga maha, kei ngā mana nui, kei ngā mauri tiketike o te motu, tēnā koutou. Ka paoro taku karanga pōwhiri mai i te maunga o Whakakoro ki Ahumairangi, nei he mokopuna o te Nōta e tuku reo matakuikui atu ki a koutou katoa. Kia puāwai ai te pā harakeke whānui, me rangaranga ngā tini rau o te motu e tātou, kia matomato ai. Kia matomato te reo Māori. Kia matomato te iwi Māori. Kia matomato te ao Māori. Kia matomato Te Tumu Herenga Waka.
Kia ora! I am so excited that you’ve picked up this magazine! My name is Te Rātā Campbell, and I am this year’s Āpiha Tūmatanui (Public Communications Officer) of Ngāi Tauira, the Māori Students Association of Te Herenga Waka.
That means I have been gifted the absolute privilege of guest editing an edition of Salient for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. This magazine is something really special, this is Te Ao Mārama. Te Ao Mārama means the ‘world of light’. This is a reference to a story very important to Māori, our creation story.
Māori traditionally believe that first was the thought, then the spirit, and finally manifestation into matter.
Te Kore, Te Pō and Te Ao Mārama. Simply, Te Kore was a void, a nothingness, yet full of energy and pregnant with possibility.
Te Pō, the Night. This night was intensely dark, deep, and long. It was a period of time that was that of the unknown, the intangible, unseen, and unknowable.
Te Ao Mārama is the light that slowly manifested in darkness, a world of knowledge and understanding.
This is expressed in the whakataukī “Poipoia te kākano kia puāwai/Nurture the seed so that it may flourish”. Metaphorically that might translate as the seed planted in thought may flourish into matter.
For this week’s edition of Salient, the name Te Ao Mārama reflects what this magazine means to tauira Māori at Te Herenga Waka. It represents our revitalisation. The return of Māori culture and language to the light, to our people, and to the world.
Te Ao Mārama, Poipoia te Kākano kia Puāwai. I think this theme is perfect for this year’s issue as it relates to everything we do. All things stem from a nurtured seed. We were once seeds within our mother’s whare tangata, our families nurtured by our tīpuna and from the seeds of our māra, our tamariki from the aroha grown in our hearts. The seeds of our culture and reo flourish within us as we embrace each other in all that we do as Māori.
I see Te Ao Mārama as fresh nourishment, feeding our connection as tauira Māori to Te Ao Māori. Te Ao Mārama is a sign of growth and health for tauira Māori at Te Herenga Waka. It is an outlet in which tauira Māori are free to express themselves and see the expression of their peers, in te reo Pākehā and te reo Māori. Thus we see our culture and language flourish, and we send our invitation to the other tauira of Te Herenga Waka to come into our world and thoughts, even if just for this moment.
Thank you to all the people who made this year’s Te Ao Mārama happen. To the Salient team and Te Komiti Whakahaere for their ongoing and endless love and support. To this year’s contributors, the writers and the artists, for their amazing content. And to this year’s translators (and for the support of Vini Olsen-Reeder) for making this available in te reo Māori. For those of you reading this, thank you for allowing me to share this with you. I appreciate you all so much. You have helped nurture the seed, and now we can flourish together.
Slay,
Te Rātā
留言