Mai anō ngā terenga waka a te Māori, ko ōna kōrero tuku iho i whakatauira tuatahingia e ngā atua tonu, taka mai ki te iwi tāngata o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Tā tēnei tuhinga, he wānanga i te mana o te kōrero tuku iho e haupū nei ngā pūrākau terenga waka onamata i takoto ai te tūāpapa mātauranga whakatere mō ngā waka tūpuna i heke iho i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa. Nō reira, ka riariakina ngā pūtoi whakatauiratanga waka a te Māori i ōna atua me ōna tūpuna me te ahunga mai o ana terenga mātāmua, ka aromātai hoki i te takiwā o ngā tau i tauria ai e ōna takere Te Ika-a-Māui e takoto nei.

Kua whakapau kaha te mahi a te tangata ki te whakahaumanu i te reo Māori. I whakamanahia ā-turetia te reo Māori, ā, kua whakaputahia ētahi rautaki reo Māori mō te whenua. Heoi, kāore anō te reo Māori kia māori i ngā wāhi katoa o te hapori. Ko ngā marae, ko ngā kura Māori, ko ngā āhuatanga Māori kē ngā wāhi ‘tika’ mō te reo Māori. Ka aro tēnei pepa ki te reo Māori ki roto i tētahi wāhanga kē o te porihanga, arā, ko ngā hinonga kāwanatanga. Mā ngā wheako whaiaro o ētahi kaimahi o ngā hinonga e whāki te whakatinanatanga o ngā ture me ētahi tohutohu hei ārahi i ngā hinonga kei tūpono, he ngutu kau noa iho pea te Rautaki Reo Māori. 

Nō te tau 2001 i whakatūria ai e Ako Aotearoa (National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence) tētahi tohu hei whakanui i ngā mahi a te tangata e whakaako ana i te taumata takiura. Me whakaatu te kaiwhiwhi tohu i tana ū roa ki ngā taumata tiketike rawa i tana mahi whakaako. Tekau mā rua ngā kaiwhiwhi toa i ia tau, kātahi ka whiriwhirihia ai e tētahi kōmiti kaiwhakawā kia kotahi te tangata e whiwhi nei i te Tohu Tiketike o te Pirimia. Mō ngā tau e whā kua hipa ake nei i riro i ngā kaiako Māori te tohu tiketike nei. Ko te aronga o tēnei tuhinga he whakaatu i ngā āhuatanga o ēnei kaiako kia mārama pai atu ai te whakaaro tiketike o te Māori ki tēnei mea te ako.

He maha ngā kaupapa ako reo, engari kāore i maha ngā kaupapa e aro nui ana ki ngā mātua o ngā tamariki e hiahia ana ki te ako i te reo Māori hei tautoko i ā rātou tamariki i te kura. Ko te Kura Whānau Reo tētahi o aua kaupapa kua whakatūria e Te Ataarangi i ngā tau tata nei kia tokomaha ake ngā whānau e hiahia ana kia noho rātou hei whānau reo Māori. Ko te kaupapa matua o tēnei rangahau ko ngā whakakitenga a ngā kaiako, kua kïia nei he pouārahi reo, me ā rātou mahi tahi ki ngā whānau e ako ana i te reo Māori hei reo tuarua. Tekau mā rua ngā tāngata i uiuitia. Tokowaru he wāhine, tokowhā he tāne.

He rangahau e pā ana ki tētahi rïpoata tawhito i tukuna e Te Whānau-a-Te Ēhutu hai kēreme i te 1994 ki te Karauna. He kēreme tēnei mō te moutere, mō te puia o Whakaari. Ko te take mō tēnei rangahau, he āta tïtiro ki tēnei kēreme me ētahi atu kēreme whakawhiti e pā ana ki Whakaari kia mārama ai ngā take o roto. Mai i ngā tau kua pahure atu ki tēnei tau, ka tïmatahia e ngā hapū o Te Whānau-a-Apanui te whakarite i ngā kēreme kia utua e te Karauna mō ngā hara I mahia e rātou i ngā wā o mua. Ko te hua matua i puta mai i tēnei rangahau, ko te māramatanga ki ētahi mahi hē a te Karauna me te kaha o ngā tïpuna ki te whai tonu i tēnei kaupapa whenua.

He reo rua katoa te iwi kōrero Māori. Ko tētahi uaua o te whakaora i te reo Māori, ko te āta noho me te kōrero Māori. Nā whai anō ko te reo Pākehā te reo matua mō te nuinga o te iwi kōrero Māori. Ki te whakaarohia te manga, kua mau pea tātou ki te taha reo Pākehā o taua manga, kua kore e mōhio me pēhea rā e whiti atu ai ki te taha reo Māori. E tika ana, me mōhio te reo rua Māori ki ngā tahataha e rua, tō te reo Māori, tō te reo Pākehā, me te kanikani anō hoki i runga i te piriti i runga i ngā terenga wai e rere ana ki raro i a ia. E kāpuia ana te kōrerotia o ōna reo me tēnei tūāhuatanga e kīia nei he kōwhiri reo. Koinei te kaupapa nui i wānangahia i te tohu kairangi a te kaituhi.

Pōwhiri has a long history and generates deeper meanings beyond the formal enactment of welcome. What happens when this ritual is transferred into contemporary environments, especially those beyond the traditional marae? In particular, how might the performance of this ritual as adapted to suit objectives beyond its ritual origins be seen, even so, to reconstruct and reinforce the sense of identity, communality and belonging—who we are and how we come together—that pōwhiri was evolved to engender? The act of performing pōwhiri itself creates a sense of marae—a kind of “virtual” or “alt-marae”— regardless of the actual setting.

Like a number of fundamental Māori rituals and practices, pōwhiri have appeared in New Zealand fiction feature film since its beginnings in the silent era. Pōwhiri are multisensory, kinaesthetic experiences that, for most Māori, recall one’s tūrangawaewae—where he or she stands and belongs—because, in general, the predominant experience of pōwhiri is at home, amongst one’s own community. This article critically analyses pōwhiri as it has been constructed in New Zealand feature film history. It first presents an historical overview of pōwhiri and then focuses on Tearepa Kahi’s Mt. Zion (Hita, Milligan & Kahi, 2013).

This paper considers the use of contemporary popular waiata in promulgating a Māori worldview by expressing cultural identity and belonging. Waiata are a traditional medium, a practice through which Māori knowledge, histories, culture and language continue to be passed down from one generation to another (Ka‘ai-Mahuta, 2010; McLean, 1996; Orbell, 1991; Smith, 2003). Similarities can be observed between traditional and contemporary waiata, in that messages are delivered through musical, melodic, rhythmic and harmonic motifs that are distinctively Māori.