National Library Celebrates Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori

MEDIA RELEASE For immediate release Friday 20 July 2007

National Library Celebrates Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori

Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand, will celebrate Maori Language Week (23-27 July) with displays of early photos, scrapbooks, notebooks and letters held by the Alexander Turnbull Library as well as new material from the collections. The Library, in partnership with Huia Publishers, will also present a programme of free lunchtime events.

‘The Turnbull Library holds the largest collection of written Maori material in the world’, said Chief Librarian Chris Szekely, ‘And we hope that the displays and activities we have organised for Maori Language Week will demonstrate that te reo is not just about the past, but continues to be relevant in today’s New Zealand.’

DISPLAY ITEMS INCLUDE: Ko nga whakapapa o nga tupuna o nga ture o Niu Tireni in Māori, Scrapbook [ca 1878-1892] of Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull

Te ahua o te whakahua a Te Rarawa in ‘Notes on Māori dialects / compiled for George H Davies [ca 1888]’

A letter in Māori from Te Hapuku to Donald McLean, 20 February 1862, (with English translation by Michael Rotohiko Jones)

Recently published Māori language material, including books, sound recordings, videos and posters from the Library’s ephemera collection.

Photographs from the 1901 visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. As the royals travelled in procession from Queen’s Wharf through Wellington to the House of Representatives, they passed beneath a series of colourful arches erected for the occasion. The first, the Citizens’ Arch in Customhouse Quay, expressed a welcome from Pākehā and Māori. In Lambton Quay, the Government Arch bore on one side the inscription ‘Ma Te atua korua e atawhai’ and on the other the English equivalent ‘God bless the duke and duchess". In Molesworth Street, the Māori Arch, constructed from carvings from the Colonial Museum, bore the inscription ‘Nau mai, nau mai’.

FREE LUNCHTIME EVENTS:

Panel discussion - Tirohia Kimihia, Tirohia Kimihia, the first-ever monolingual Māori dictionary, is a finalist in this year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards. The learner dictionary, written by Huia Publishers for the Ministry of Education. took seven years to complete.

The panel will discuss the gap that this resource has filled. For the first time, tamariki are able to explore Māori words through the medium of te reo Māori. The challenges and successes of the project will be discussed, with initial feedback from schools about the usefulness of the resource. Panelists: Brian Morris, Kararaina Uatuku, Dr Mary Boyce Monday 11:30-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street

Lecture - TaumatawhakatangihangakoauauoTamateaturipukakapikimaunga horonukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu Ngāti Kahungunu has the distinction of creating the longest place name in the world. Every iwi has their explorers and all of the names associated with their feats of discovery were long. Huia Publishers is developing a kōhanga reo resource to explain this place name. As the kaupapa for Te Wiki o Te Reo is ‘getting on the road with te reo’ this kōrero will take us there through the kōrero of Tamatea. Presenter: Brian Morris Monday 11:30-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street

Panel - The Donald McLean Project The Donald McLean project is a major access project undertaken by the National Library of New Zealand and the Alexander Turnbull Library which aims to digitise and make accessible via the internet the papers of Sir Donald McLean, 1820-1877, who was an administrator, runholder, politician, provincial superintendent and acted as Crown's Protector of Aborigines, Native Land Purchase Commissioner and Minister of Native Affairs. Of particular interest to Māori are 3000 letters written in te reo Māori by Māori to McLean during his wor king career. The Tainui Endowed College is assisting with the provision of some transcripts and translations. Panelists will include David Colquhoun (Curator, Manuscripts and Archives), David Kukutai Jones (Kaitiaki, Kohikohinga Reo Māori) and Elliot Young (Digital Projects Leader). (40 minutes) Tuesday 11:30-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street Wellington.

Film - Framing Māori Framing Māori by Tere Harrison, (Wellington, 2006). Māori journalist Tere Harrison interviews media commentators about the reporting of Māori issues in New Zealand’s mainstream media with a particular focus on television news. (32 minutes) Wednesday 12:00-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street

Presentation - He Waihotanga Reo Māori He waihotanga reo Māori by David Kukutai Jones (Kaitiaki Kohikohinga Reo Māori) will be a presentation looking at some of the unpublished Māori language collections in the Alexander Turnbull Library. David will showcase different collections and also show how to locate material relating to specific themes or interests. This presentation is entirely in te reo Māori. (40 minutes) Thursday 11:30-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street

Film - He Whare Kōrero He Whare Kōrero, directed by Tainui Stephens (Pitone Productions, Ngāruawāhia, 2003), is a history of the Māori language and a vision for its future, presented by Tūhoe linguist Professor Tīmoti Karetu. Tīmoti Karetu explores the metaphor of the Whare Kōrero as a ’house of speech’ to present this story of te reo Māori. According to Tainui Stephens, ‘The series explains the place of the Māori language in the genealogy of Pacific languages and shows how the language suffered under colonialism and the reign of English. It also looks at the resistance of iwi who refuse to let their language go the way of the moa.’ (1 hour of 2hours and 20 minutes) Friday 11:30-12:30pm, National Library Auditorium, entrance off Aitken Street

Acknowledgements The National Library of New Zealand and Huia Publishers wish to thank all the presenters, people and production companies who made this event possible through their help, support and co-operation. Special thanks go to Gareth Seymour, Brian Morris, Kararaina Uatuku, Dr Mary Boyce, David Colquhoun and the Donald McLean project members, Wiha Te Raki Hawea and Tainui Stephens and Pitoone Productions and Tere Harrison.

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