29 Sep Kia kaha te reo Māori ao te pō, pō te ao

Kāti, e mihi ana ki te nui o te ngoi i whakapetohia e te huhua i te amohanga ake o Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori hei tāhūhū kōrero i te wiki kua taha ake nei. Nā koutou i pāorooro ai tō tātou reo ki ngā maunga, ki ngā whārua, ki ngā tai e whā o te motu.

Heoi, i roto hoki i tēnei mihi, ka māharahara kau noa te ngākau i te tokonga ake o te pātai, āe rānei he amohanga rangitahi tēnei? Āe rānei i heke makihoi noa iho te werawera i a tātou i tērā wiki? Me waiho pea mā ā tātou whakatinanatanga ā haere ake nei ērā māharaharatanga e whakaaio, e whakaū rānei. Heoi anō tāku ki a tātou, e hoa mā, kāore te reo Māori i te noho here ki te rā kotahi, ki te wiki kotahi, ki te marama kotahi, tino kore nei! Kua herea kētia ki te ngākau o te tangata, mā reira e hau ai te rongo o te reo Māori ao te pō, pō te ao.

He punua kupu whakakipakipa ēnei nā mātou, nā Toi Tangata, kia kaha rā tātou.

Firstly, a huge acknowledgement for the effort that was put in by the multitudes in support of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori two weeks ago. Because of you, our language roared to the mountains, to the valleys, and to the nation.

However, in this acknowledgement stems a concern as to whether our efforts were temporary. Whether our commitment in that week was purposeless. Perhaps we should allow our actions from this point onwards to either alleviate these misplaced concerns or rather validate them. The point being, the Māori language is not bound to a single day, nor week, nor month, not at all! It is, instead, bound intrinsically to a person, and it is the commitment to this belief that will result in the Māori language being heard constantly.

 May this be a spur of encouragement from us of Toi Tangata, kia kaha rā tātou.