Whaikōrero – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Rāhoroi

Whaikōrero – is an art form.
Kōrero Māori – is possible for all of us.

Te Aka defines whaikōrero as: Formal eloquent language using imagery, metaphor, whakataukī, pepeha, kupu whakaari, relevant whakapapa and references to tribal history is admired. Kōrero (as a verb) is defined as: to tell, say, speak, read, talk, address.

Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi is the kaitiaki of our permanent Nga Pounamu Māori collection. Within these collections, taonga abound. Not only are some available in beautifully presented pukapuka but also through our Wheelers eBook platform. One available in both print and eBook format is Whaikorero: The World of Maori Oratory by Poia Rewi:

Winner of the 2011 NZSA E.H. McCormick Best First Book Award for Non-Fiction, New Zealand Post Book Awards.
The judges felt that Rewi’s book ‘managed the difficult feat of being both a valuable record and manual of Māori oratory for practitioners, and an accessible overview for anyone interested in this ubiquitous cultural practice.’

Whilst the ability to be an outstanding orator (in any language) is beyond many of us, to use Te Reo Māori everyday certainly is not.

We can start by knowing and using Ngā Ingoa Māori – the names of places right here in Ōtautahi me Waitaha.

We can also explore the range of pukapuka me moheni published in te Reo Māori available at your local library.

I am a strong advocate of the use of children’s Te Reo Māori books to help my confidence with Kōrero Māori – the pictures often help with the kupu I do not know, ngā rerenga can be short and simple and often there is an English publication for when I get really stuck.

Kia whakatipua te kaipanui – growing readers

Try reading one with your tamariki, rangatahi or mokopuna – ka pai akoronga mo tātou.

Try Short stories for teens and adults – ‘You only Live once”.
We have graphic novels and  purākau me pakiwaitara in te Reo Maori.

For those of you who like to browse a magazine or periodical, Mana and Te Karaka (online) contain plenty of te teo Māori and some very cool reading to immerse yourself in too.

Karawhiua! Give it a go. Kōreroreo mai

Whakataukī – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Rāmere

Tēnā koutou katoa
Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou
Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa

Ko te reo te taikura ō te whakaaro marama
Language is the key to understanding

He pai ake te iti i te kore
A little is better than none

Whakataukī are a wonderful way of expressing yourself, sharing thoughts, feelings, perceptions and ideas. We are all familiar with a range of proverbs that we may use without even thinking about their origins. Whakataukī are similar – a quick and effective way to rely a message and use te reo Māori.

In the spirit of this year’s kaupapa, here is one for your whānau:

Ka nui taku aroha ki a koe
My love for you knows no bounds

Whakataukī are used everywhere in te Ao Māori and one way of regularly using te Reo Māori is to have a few up your sleeve for frequent use.

Find whakataukī in our collection.

Do you have a whakataukī that you use regularly?

Kōrerorero mai, karawhiua!

Learning te reo Māori – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Rāpare

Karawhiua! Kōrero Māori.

Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi has a range of te reo Māori resources to help you with your te reo Māori learning.
 

Whether you are a visual learner or love to write, write and write some more or even if your best learning is done by listening, there is he pukapuka for you to enjoy and discover.

If you like to stay connected then our Te Ao Māori page on our website will keep you engaged for a very very long time. Take a moment (you may need several) to immerse yourself with our online resource Te Whata Raki – learn about Te Ao Māori in a graphically beautiful and bilingual space. New content has just been added as well.

Mā te kimi ka kite, mā te kite ka mōhio, mā te mōhio ka mārama!
Seek and discover, discover and know, know and become enlightened!

Have you a favourite learning tool for Te Reo Māori?

Kōreroreo mai.

Waiata – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Tātou ka waiata!

E koekoe te tūī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererū.

The tūī chatters, the parrot gabbles, the wood pigeon coos (it takes all sorts…)

Having just completed a whistle-stop tour of 5 libraries with Ngā Manu Tioriori (Council waiata group) today as part of celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori, it is apt to write about waiata me te Reo Māori.

Ngā Manu Tioriori / Christchurch City Council’s Waiata Group at Linwood Library, Wednesday 29 July 2015. Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Flickr 2015-07-29-IMG_7431

One very effective way to enhance learning of a language is by singing! Te Ao Māori is full of glorious waiata for all sorts of occasions – from whakapapa retention, understanding the world around us, celebrations and learning. Language transmission is enhanced and embedded with the use of music, rythmn, and repetition.

Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi has a large collection of Te Reo Maori waiata and songs for tamariki  in te Reo Maori  for you to explore.

Web sites such as Waiata mai and Maori Television allow for visual interpretation as well, with kupu often visible  –  just like karaoke! Get your tamariki and moko to find some and have a whānau competition. Waiata on You Tube will keep you busy for ages.

With artists such as Ariana Tikao and Maisey Rika producing beautiful waiata and stunning video we have such wonderful oppurtunities to listen to te Reo Māori sung with aroha.

What is your favourite te Reo Māori waiata? Kōrerorero mai.

Te reo Māori on the go – Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Rātū

Ata Marie tātou, kei te pēhea koutou? Ngā mihi ki a koutou.

Kei a koe te tikanga – (it is up to you) – kia kaha kōrero ki te Māori

I have  recently joined the ‘smart phone’ club and will never again say to  tōku taitamariki /rangatahi (teenager) to get her face out of her phone! In fact I am the one who now gets – “are you on your phone again!”

Tōku waea pūkoro (phone) has been an extension of my te Reo Māori learning. Tūmeke!
I can now titiro, whakarongo me kōrero te reo Māori while waiting at te tākutu, waiting for te taitamariki/rangatahi (which is often), when TV is hōhā, when I am having a kai and sitting under he rakau feeling te rā on tōku kanohi.

I have found useful pages on Facebook that give me instant new learning in a very visual way.  My ‘photo’ app is now full of great kupu, rerenga, kiwaha me whakataukī. Like this one, that I can now copy, paste and/or share, print and stick on the fridge at home, in the office, in the car …

And for a short sharp bit of akoranga me pikitia (learning with pictures) :

Save the photo, use the kupu me Kōrero te reo Māori.

Check out some more technology and social media reo.

Kōrerorero mai, tell us how you do it – Kōrero Māori.

 Kia maia, kia manawanui – perserverance is well rewarded

 

 

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in soundbites – Rāhina

Nau mai , haere mai ki te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, ia rā ia rā!

We are posting every day for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori to help encourage kōrero Māori everyday. Te Reo Māori, ia rā ia rā!

Pronunciation comes from listening and practise so here are some links to some soundbites to encourage you to Kōrero Māori.

• Kia ora – ngā mihi (greetings) used everyday on Radio NZ
• 2015 Ngā Rerenga Kōrero o te Wiki – from Te Taura Whiri – the phrases of the week sound files
• Nga Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi – from our own Christchurch City Libraries
• Waiata Mai – from YouTube – kupu me waiata
• Māori television – te Reo Māori game show just for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. E whakarongo tātou!

Kōrerorero mai – share some sound bites you have used.

Ka pai rawe Finnian. Kia kaha ki te Kōrero Māori.

Tēnā koutou kātoa. Ngā mihi ki a koutou.

Even after 40 years of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (1975 – 2015) celebrations, pronunciation of this taonga continues to challenge us.

Finnian Galbraith, a year 11 student at Kāpiti College shares his thoughts on this. The clip has gone viral and let’s hope it generates a lot of kōrero. Ka pai rawe Finnian.  Kia kaha ki te Kōrero Māori.

Keep locked in to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori with Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi for daily posts and links to help you and your pronunciation.

Ngā Pounamu Māori explored

Whangia ka tupu, ka puawai

That which is nurtured, blossoms and grows

Christchurch City Libraries hold many taonga. Ngā Pounamu Māori Collection is one of them. Filled with history, art, mahi toi,  te Reo Māori, tikanga, kaupapa, whakapapa, politics, moemoea, traditions, kōrero, whānau me pūrākau.

Each library has someone who is the kaitiaki of that librarys’ Ngā Pounamu Collection (Ngā Kaiāwhina) and we recently shared some pukapuka from this collection.

This is what was on show. Quite a variety indeed!  We hope there will be some discovery moments for our blog readers as you venture into this awesome collection.

• Native Land Court 1862-1887: a historical study, cases and commentary / Richard Boast, 346.043 BOA – fascinating history, history of the Maori Land Court and over 100 principal cases including text and introductory commentary explaining the case and its significance.
• Ora Nui, Maori Literary Journal – collection of different works from different authors, great starting point. (Available as an free downloadable eBook).
• Choosing a Māori Name for your baby / Miriama Ohlson – transliterations and  traditional names.
• Māori Agriculture, Elsdon Best – Interesting reading in context. A good start but does need to come with a proviso, also available online. Library disclaimer: Elsdon Best has come under criticism over some of his work.
• Apirana Taylor – poet, short story and novel writer. A Canoe in Midstream
• Parihaka the art of passive resistance,- edited by Te Miringa Hohaia, Gregory O’Brien and Lara Strongman –  well written and capturing interest
• Ben Brown< “amazing” performance poet.
• Hone Tuwhare Tuwhare – poetry made into music. Not by wind ravaged (Parihaka)
• Te Rongoa Māori / PME Williams
• Tikao Talks / Teone Taare Tikao – a must read! Traditions and tales as told by Teone Tikao (Rapaki) to Herries Beattie. Related information can be found in Tī Kōuka Whenua.
• A Booming in the night / Benjamin Brown and Helen Taylor – beautiful!! Childrens. More from these two.
• Ko Wai E Huna Ana? / Satoru Ōnishi – Childrens, Te Reo Māori publication
• Toddling into Te Reo(series), reprinted 2014 by Huia Print – Childrens – nice to have the translations at the back, good to let parents know about this, colourful and thoughtful
• He aha tenei? / Sharon Holt – Childrens Reo Singalong Written in Te reo Māori and includes translation and CD.
• Five Māori Painters / 759.993 – gorgeous!! See the exhibition and interviews.
• Matters of the Heart / Angela Wanhalla – A history of interracial marriage in New Zealand. Evocative of the time periods, good for seeing family connections
• The last Maopo / Wiremu Tanai Kaihau Maopo – WW1 commemorations, letters that he sent home to a friend about his experiences as part of the second Maori contingent in WW1, personal story woven into it. 2014 publication
• e Whai / Briar O’Connor – the art/activity of making string patterns – fun, informative and nostalgic.

 

 

 

More recommendations  from Ngā Pounamu Māori.

 

Whaia te iti kahurangi ki te tuohu koe me he maunga teitei

Aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it, you will hit a lofty mountain.

Librarians reading from the Young Adult collection

Tēnā koutou kātoa

Best picks, reader advisory, book recommendations, what’s hot, whatever you like to call it, sometimes the best reads come from someone else’s sharing.

Luckily there are librarians with a passion for the Young Adult (YA) collections in our libraries. We spend our spare time engrossed in books that we love to share with our rangatahi and teenagers to encourage a lifelong love of reading. “Young Adult” in library speak defines collections aimed at around 13-19, BUT, I challenge you NOT to let that dissuade you from venturing forth.

Anyone who loves a great read and is open to alternatives, a change, and a specialised writing style should have a browse and see how often you go WOW!  I say ‘specialised’ because I would suggest that good YA writers have nailed the need to hook our young adults in with powerful writing skills, great story lines and immediate attention grabbing techniques.

Therefore, with all this in mind, at a recent meeting with colleagues who have this passion and carry some responsibility in their libraries around the YA collection, we all shared what we had been reading recently. This is a very diverse list and we hope you find something that will encourage you to give a YA title a go or will provide some help when you are being your teenager’s personal librarian.

The following titles are found in our Young Adults’ collections in your library; some are available as free downloadable e-books and audio-books as well.

• The Archived and The Unbound – Victoria Schwab
• The 100 – Kass Morgan
• Beauty Queens – Libba Bray
• We Were Liars – Emily Lockhart
• Only Ever Yours – Louise O’Neill
• Mortal Fire – Elizabeth Knox – as seen in this blog post about the WORD festival
• The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness
• The Tricksters – Margaret Mahy
• Everybody Sees the Ants – A. S. King
• Razorhurst – Justine Larbalestier
• The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew – Eli Glasman
• The 10 p.m. Question – Kate de Goldi – the recent Community Read title
• Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek (non-fiction!) – Maya van Wagenen

As with life, books are difficult to put in specific boxes: these titles are from the ‘adult’ collections, but may well appeal to older teenagers.

• The Child Thief and Red Winter – Dan Smith
• The Reason I Jump – Naoki Higashida (Biography, written when the author was only 13)
• The Facades – Eric Lundgren

So, whether you are up for a challenge or are tearing your hair out to get your offspring to read, there is something for everyone in the Young Adult collections in our libraries.

Let us know how many times you went WOW!

Matariki – the many stories of the Maori New Year

Tēnā ngā kanohi kua tīkona e Matariki

Matariki will keep you awake

The constellation of Matariki rises in the dawn sky on Saturday 28th Piripi (June).  To see this return you will need to up before the sun rises, at the beach and looking slightly northeast.

Māori New Year, which is heralded by Matariki gracing our skies again, is a time of celebration and rememberance. There is no better time than as the winter solstice comes around to gather together and do some celebrating and remembering with the ones you love.

Matariki events

There are some Matariki events that you could add to your list of celebrations and new things happening in the library this month. They are free of charge:

A Tane me ngā Whetu – Tane and the Stars

Join us at Upper Riccarton Library on Wednesday 25th June from 6.15 – 7.30pm for stories around Matariki. Come with the tamariki or just yourself, dress code PJs and blankie.

Te Kura Takurua – Winter Seminar Series

Joseph Hullen will be at Linwood Library (upstairs at Eastgate Mall) on Thursday 26th June from 6.00 – 7.50pm and talking about “The Sharing of Rongoā” traditional Māori healing with a focus on Te Taiao (the environment).

Whānau Fun Day at Rehua Marae 

Join the library and much more at Rehua Marae, 79 Springfield Road, St Albans on Saturday 28th June 10am-4pm.

More Matariki ideas

A time for planning the year ahead : for kai/food and the planting of crops, winter is a great time to be getting your planting and mahi/work schedule sorted. Aiming to do something this next year that you have never done before? Now is a good time to really get yourself committed.

A time for reflection and celebrating the world around us: – have you made contact with whānau and friends that you have not seen or heard from for a while? Break the ice and send a Matariki postcard available from your local library. Better still get the whole whānau to write a family postcard (or 6!)

Learn something new: While you are flicking through the winter’s TV offerings wondering how better to spend your evenings as the weather and darkness desends – try a new craft/hobby; learn Te Reo Māori, teach your tamariki/mokopuna some good old fashioned games or come up with a whānau winter ritual.

Have a Matariki feast – get to know your neighbours, invite the whānau and your friends to celebrate Matariki. Theme your hākari around winter, stars, stories, favourate whānau food through the generations (that may be enlightening). A simple afternoon tea with warming hot chocolate and star shaped biscuits is manageable for most of us.

Light up your whare – do not be shy – those fairy lights that glisten and twinkle just like the constellation of Matariki look their very best in the cold dark of winter nights.

Whaka-whānaungātanga and Manaaki – two beautiful Te Reo Māori words that encompass the feelings and actions around caring for others, welcoming, sharing, hospitality, and the building of relationships to assist with a sense of belonging and togetherness. Have you experienced Manaakitanga or whānaungātanga?

Kōrero Paki – telling stories – invite friends and whānau to have a story themed event whereby everyone has the oppurtunity to share a story that the rest of the whānau may not know or a favourite of course. A great way to keep oral traditions healthy and family ‘grapevines’ going.

Learn about Matariki, Te Ao Māori and Tātai Arorangi (Māori Astronomy)  Take the time to go beyond the seven star constellation and learn about Māori cosmology and see how it differs or is similar to other cultures.

Read Work of the Gods by Kay Leather and Richard Hall  explores Tātai Arorangi,  Māori Astronomy and star lore. There are some great stories to share in this little gem of a book.

Explore our resources

• About Matariki
• Matariki for kids
• Matariki events

So, what are you doing for Matariki? Is Matariki keeping you awake?  Let us know.