Finding community on my te reo Māori journey
Ko Greyci tōku ingoa, ko tēnei te mokopuna o Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Pōrou, me Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti.
I am a māmā and wāhine Māori, in the process of reconnecting with and reclaiming my Māoritanga, living in Te Papaioea with my daughter, twin sons, and baby boy.
It can be challenging to know where to start on a cultural reclamation journey, coming from a non-Māori upbringing.
Growing up, I lived in an English-speaking household with my mum, and reo Māori was not a part of my life. My dad, however, was a fluent te reo Māori speaker who was deeply passionate about whakapapa and te ao Māori—the Māori world. After his passing when I was 21, I felt an overwhelming fear that with him gone, I would no longer be ‘Māori.’ I didn’t know much about my culture, I didn’t speak the reo, and I wasn’t surrounded by others who did.
Although I scribbled down my goal to start my reo journey each New Year after Dad’s passing, it wasn’t until sometime later—when my daughter started kura (school)—that I began to make any real progress. I struggled to know where or how to start on my own, especially when te ao Māori is so deeply rooted in people and community. In those early days I often felt a conflicting sense of deep belonging and ‘home’ when I would see my dad’s whānau or be in ao Māori spaces, and an equally strong feeling of imposter syndrome.
When it came time to for my daughter to start school in a reo Māori me ona tikanga immersion class, I was so excited and proud. Her class is 81-100% in reo Māori, and they do daily karakia and kapa haka with an overall te ao Māori centric view. We waited 3 ballots to get her in, so I wasn’t about to reveal that she didn’t come from a fluent household when she was accepted. This meant I needed to quickly learn some basic phrases in case anyone spoke to me, and those simple greetings and sayings are what got me started slowly building up my reo.
My daughter has thrived, and recently my twin sons joined her at kura. One concept I’ve loved learning and witnessing is “Mā te tuakana ka tōtika te teina, mā te teina ka tōtika te tuakana” (it is through the older sibling that the younger sibling learns to do the right thing). The tamariki are so far removed from individual thinking, showing incredible care for one another as a collective. The older children take pride in their leadership roles, looking after and including the younger ones. There is so much manaakitanga in their classes.
Finding and becoming part of the school’s reo Māori community has been pivotal in my journey to reconnect with my culture and tikanga Māori. Over the years I’ve joined many school trips and camps, and while I tend to stay fairly quiet, I love being immersed in the reo and tikanga.
Reconnecting with culture is deeply personal, but for me, it felt possible after finding a community. What I’ve learned is that cultural reconnection doesn’t always come through whānau—for a variety of reasons—and that belonging and building community has been the key to feeling empowered as a learner of te reo Māori.
Parents often speak of wanting to give their children what they didn’t have growing up, and that gift has been ensuring my tamariki know their Māoritanga. While it was originally my dream to teach my children te reo Māori, it’s worked out being so special to learn alongside them.
So, here are my top tips!
- Find yourself a community of other learners or reo Māori speakers, and spend time immersed in their spaces. This doesn’t always have to be in person- I love to connect with other learners online by following reo Māori pages and joining Facebook groups such as Māori 4 Grown Ups.
- Don’t let being whakamā (shy) stop you from making progress- reo Māori speakers (that are second language learners) have been in your shoes before and understand we’re all at different levels on our own reo haerenga (journey).
- Finding a reo buddy goes a long way, and I was lucky to have my children. If you can make connections in your community, try to use your reo with the other speakers as much as you can.