Te Tangata Rongonui Korero

Kia ora koutou.

At the end of our year of Te Ara Reo Maori (The Path to the Maori Language), we were required to write and present (korero) a speech completely in te reo Maori, no less than three minutes long, in front of our class, with "props" such as pictures or powerpoint.  Below is my speech which I presented on Tuesday just past.  For this post, I have interspersed with some explanation.  The pictures shown are pictures which I used on my powerpoint.

Te Reo Maori is normally written with macrons above some vowels but I don't have a programme here to support that, thus if people reading know where the macrons should be they will need to imagine them there and understand that I know they should be there too.  Other people will probably not know the difference.

   Tane Mahuta, the largest Kauri tree still living in Aotearoa. His roots are in the earth, his branches reach to the sky.

The speech begins with the whaikorero (the first paragraph you see) which was written for us.  It means "The first word I have to say, I send to the Creator.  He is the beginning and the end of everything.  To the ancestral house that stands here I greet you.  To the sacred earth that lies outside, I greet you also.  To those that have passed on, go forth, go forth, go forth.  Go to the home that our Creator has constructed for all of us.  Leave the deceased to be with the deceased.  To all of us, the living gathered here, greetings greetings, greetings to you all. 

Ko te kupu tuatahi ki te kaihanga.  Koia ra te tiimatanga me te whakamutunga o nga mea katoa.  E te whare tu nei, tena koe.  Ki te marae e takato ana ki waho ra, tena koe.  Ki nga mate, haere, haere, haere.  Haere ki te kainga i whakaritea e to tatou kaihanga mo tatou katoa.  Ratou te hunga mate ki a ratou.  Tatou te hunga ora e huihui mai nei.  Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

The next part is my pepeha, describing where I am from.

Ko Aoraki te maunga.  Ko Waimakariri te awa.  Ko te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa te moana.  Ko Martha Ridgway te waka.  Ko Ngati Pakeha te iwi. Ko Elizabeth Odell toku ingoa.

 

Me and my children circa 1996

This part tells my whakapapa.

Ko Lawrence Patrick Odell toku matua.  Ko Eveline Rollinson toku whaea.  I te taha o toku whaea, ko Albert Rollinson raua ko Clara Bailey oku tipuna matua.  I te taha o toku matua, ko Stanley George Odell raua ko Eileen Ross oku tipuna matua.  Ko Jenny Odell toku teina.  Ko Geoff Odell toku tungane.  Ko Justin ratou ko Melissa, ko Joseph, ko Jacob, ko Christopher aku tamariki.  Ko Caleb ratou ko Mya, ko Kade, ko Skye aku mokopuna.

 The first thread of my family arrived in Aotearoa in 1840 on a ship (waka) named the Martha Ridgway (the three masted ship left of the flagpole)

I te taha o toku matua, ko James Wright raua ko Hannah Austain oku tipuna matua.  I haere raua ki Aotearoa, ki Whanganui-a-tara, ma runga waka Martha Ridgway raua, haere ai. I taenga raua i te marama o Whiringa-a-rangi, kotahi mano, e waru rau, e wha tekau.  Ko James raua ko Hannah tekau ma iwa ana tamariki. Ko Sarah Anne Wright ana mataamua.  A te rua tekau ma iwa o Hakihea, kotahi mano, e waru rau, e wha tekau ma tahi tona ra whanau. Ko ia te tangata tuatahi i whanau mai i Aotearoa o toku whanau.

In the next part of our speech we had to talk about a famous person. I chose to korero about Metiria Turei, co-leader of the Green Party Aotearoa, a woman whom I highly respect.  

Ko te kaupapa o toku korero ko tetahi tangata rongonui ko Metiria Leeanne Agnes Stanton Turei.

Ko Richard Ropata Eruera Turei tona matua. Ko Janice Lake tona whaea.  I te taha o tona matua, ko Te Oti Rangitekaiwaho Turei raua ko Agnes Piupiu Taputoro ona matua tipuna.  I te taha o tona whaea, ko Len Lake raua ko Gwenda Lake ona matua tipuna.  Ko Warwick Stanton tana hoa rangatira.  Ko Piupiu Maya Turei tana tamahine.

Ko Tararua ko Ruapehu ona maunga.  Ko Ruamahanga ko Whanganui ona awa.  Ko Takitimu ko Aotea ona waka.  Ko Rangitane, Ngati Kahungunu, ki Wairarapa ko Ati-hau-nui-a-Paparangi.  Ko Ngati Moe ko Wainuiarua ona hapu.  Ko Papawai me Upokutauaki ona marae.

A te tekau ma toru o Hui-tanguru, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e wha tekau tona ra whanau.  No te Papa-i-oea ia. Kei Otepoti tona kainga inaianei.

He Paremata tona mahi.  Ko tona umanga hei arahi toranapu Kakariki.

I ako ia te kowaruwarutanga o te ture i te Wanaga o Tamaki-makau-rau, katahi ka poutoko ture tona umanga Simpson Grierson. I tenei wa, he kaitauko ia mo nga hung kore mahi me nga tangata whai panga, katahi ka tumuaki ia i Te Iwi Maori Rawakore o Aotearoa.  He kaiwhakangahau tona mo te ropu Random Trollops.

 I te tau, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e iwa tekau ma toru, he kaiwhakauru ia i te McGillicuddy Serious Party, kotahi ka, kotahi mano, e iwa rau. e tekau ma ono, he kaiwhakauru ia te Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

 I te tau, e rua mano, i uru ia ki roto i te Pati Kakariki, katahi ka, i te tau, e rua mano ma rua, i uru ia ki roto ki te Paremata, a muri i tera, i te tau, e rua mano ma iwa, Metiria raua ko Russell Norman he kaiarahi raua mo te Pati Kakariki.

He wahine ataahua a Metiria.  He wahine pukumahi ia.  He tino koi hoki tona hinengaro, he ngakau mahaki. He arahi torangapu tino kaha ia.  He pango ona makawe. He pakaka ona karu.  He waha tona korero. He nui tona menemene. He rua ona waewae hei kanikani.

We end with a whakatauki (proverb).  I chose the whakatauki below which means " Follow your dreams, if you have to bend or bow, let it be to a lofty mountain."

"Whaia te iti kahurangi ki te tuoho koe me maunga tei tei." 

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.