Strive for something of great value!
For my Māori language course I had to write 200 words for an assessment. Here's what I wrote. Note: there may be errors — we'll see what the tutor says when they grade it.
Ia rā, ia rā, ka haere mātou ko ōku kurī ki tātahi tākaro ai. I te hōtoke ka haere mātou i muri i te parakuihi. Nā te mea he tino mahana hoki te rangi i te raumati, ka haere mātou i mua i te parakuihi, i te ono karaka.
He pai ki ngā kurī te tahatai. Ka oma rāua, ka mimi, ka hongihongi. Ka kimihia ngā kurī e te kai. Pēnei tonu te hikoi. Kāore rāua ki te kaukau.
Titiro au ki te moana me te moutere o Kāpiti i tawhiti. He ataahua te tahatai. He roa, he whānui hoki. Kāore ngā tangata. Aue, te mārire rānei o te tahatai o Waikawa!
Ka mutu, ka hoki atu mātou ki te kāinga. Ka inu tī kākāriki au. Tino reka te tī! He inu pai te tī kākāriki.
Ka moe ngā kurī. Kua pau te hau!
I te ahiahi ka ako au i Te Reo Māori. Ka whakarongo au, ka pānui, ka tuhituhi. E hiahia ana au ki te ako i te reo Māori.
Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe.
Every day the dogs and I go to the beach to play. In winter we go after breakfast. Because the days are very hot, in summer we go before breakfast, at 6 o' clock.
The dogs like the beach. They run, they pee, they sniff everything. The dogs look for something they can eat. That's how the walk goes. They don't swim.
I look at the sea, and Kāpiti Island in the distance. The beach is beautiful. It's long, and it's broad. There's no-one around. Ah, Waikawa Beach is so peaceful!
When we're finished we return home. I drink green tea. The tea is delicious! Green tea is a great drink.
The dogs sleep. They're exhausted!
In the afternoon I learn the Māori language. I listen, I read, I write. I really want to learn the Māori language.
Strive for something of great value!
That last line is part of a proverb: Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei
or Seek the treasure that you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.
Part of the assessment is to read aloud what I've written. I need to practice a whole lot more. Here's a somewhat stumbling rendition. Also, my accent needs work. In particular, I'm the kind of person who pronounces the English word car
as ka
not kar
. In Māori there should be a definite bit of a trill. Aue!
Ron Chester It sounded great to me. Were the Māori there a long time before immigrants arrived from Europe or elsewhere? How did they treat the Māori when they got there? As bad as the Native Americans were treated? Better/worse?
Miraz Jordan @Ron Thanks Ron. New Zealand had no humans (or land mammals apart from a couple of bats) until somewhere around 800-1200 AD the first Māori arrived. The first Europeans arrived around 1642. From about 1769 Europeans really started arriving. in 1840 a Treaty was signed guaranteeing Māori ownership and agency over all their own ‘treasures’ such as land, forests and water. Things went downhill from there… Since about 1990 there has been greater awareness and action to right the many many wrongs.
David Sinclair as my wife says when comparing Maori and Native Americans, the Maori had better lawyers.
Ron Chester Thanks so much. I just knew you'd have the facts. Do we know where the Māori came from? And did they also populate Australia or any of the other islands in the Pacific? Have they become assimilated as Kiwis, or are they kept separate like many of our Native Americans?
Miraz Jordan @Ron Woo. Big questions. I’m a bit under the weather just now but will reply in the next few days.
Miraz Jordan @Ron Thinking seems to be an origin for Māori in or near the Philippines, with migration east starting around 2,000-1,000 BC, to round about Tahiti. Then about 1200 AD migration west to New Zealand. teara.govt.nz/en/map/14... Does not include Australia.
Miraz Jordan @Ron As for assimilation… whew! That's very big and thorny. Current thinking is assimilation is NOT a desirable goal. The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840, allowed for Māori to be sovereign over themselves, but then followed a very troubled history with numerous very detrimental effects. These days we strive for a bicultural / multicultural society. There have also been reparations for wrongs done. But it's all WAY more complex than that, of course.
Ron Chester Wow, what a great answer, with that excellent map. I've contacted people on most of those islands with my ham radios over many years. When I lived in CA, it was really easy to contact people in the Pacific because the salt water propagates the signals so much better than over land. I have always loved working kiwi stations, as they are so far away and generally lovely people and excellent skilled hams. Thanks so much for providing such top notch information!
Ron Chester Ahh, see, that's what I meant. That's just the sort of thing a ZL (kiwi) ham would say.