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.

   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 ngā mea katoa.  E te whare tu nei, tēnā koe.  Ki te marae e takato ana ki waho rā, tēnā koe.  Ki ngā mate, haere, haere, haere.  Haere ki te kainga i whakaritea e tō tātou kaihanga mō tātou katoa.  Rātou te hunga mate ki a rātou.  Tātou te hunga ora e huihui mai nei.  Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā 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 Ngāti Pakeha te iwi. Ko Elizabeth Odell tōku ingoa.

 

Me and my children circa 1996

This part tells my whakapapa.

Ko Lawrence Patrick Odell tōku matua.  Ko Eveline Rollinson tōku whaea.  I te taha o tōku whaea, ko Albert Rollinson rāua ko Clara Bailey ōku tipuna matua.  I te taha o toku matua, ko Stanley George Odell rāua ko Eileen Ross ōku tipuna mātua.  Ko Jenny Odell tōku teina.  Ko Geoff Odell tōku tungane.  Ko Justin rātou ko Melissa, ko Joseph, ko Jacob, ko Christopher āku tamariki.  Ko Caleb rātou ko Mya, ko Kade, ko Skye āku 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 tōku matua, ko James Wright raua ko Hannah Austain oku tipuna mātua.  I haere rāua ki Aotearoa, ki Whanganui-a-tara, ma runga waka Martha Ridgway rāua, haere ai. I taenga rāua i te marama o Whiringa-a-rangi, kotahi mano, e waru rau, e wha tekau.  Ko James rāua ko Hannah tekau ma iwa ana tamariki. Ko Sarah Anne Wright ānā mataamua.  A te rua tekau ma iwa o Hakihea, kotahi mano, e waru rau, e whā tekau mā tahi tōnā rā whanau. Ko ia te tangata tuatahi i whanau mai i Aotearoa o tōku 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 tōku korero ko tetahi tangata rongonui ko Metiria Leeanne Agnes Stanton Turei.

Ko Richard Ropata Eruera Turei tōna matua. Ko Janice Lake tōna whaea.  I te taha o tōna matua, ko Te Oti Rangitekaiwaho Turei rāua ko Agnes Piupiu Taputoro ōna matua tipuna.  I te taha o tōna whaea, ko Len Lake rāua ko Gwenda Lake ōna mātua tipuna.  Ko Warwick Stanton tāna hoa rangatira.  Ko Piupiu Maya Turei tāna tamahine.

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

A te tekau mā toru o Hui-tanguru, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whā tekau tona rā whanau.  Nō te Papa-i-oea ia. Kei Otepoti tōna kainga inaianei.

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

I ako ia te kowaruwarutanga o te ture i te Wananga o Tamaki-makau-rau, katahi ka poutoko ture tōna umanga Simpson Grierson. I tenei wā, he kaitauko ia mo nga hunga kore mahi me ngā tangata whai pānga, katahi ka tumuaki ia i Te Iwi Māori Rawakore o Aotearoa.  He kaiwhakangahau tōna mo te rōpu Random Trollops.

I te tau, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā 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 rōto i te Pāti Kakariki, katahi ka, i te tau, e rua mano mā rua, i uru ia ki rōto ki te Paremata, ā muri i tera, i te tau, e rua mano mā iwa, Metiria rāua ko Russell Norman he kaiarahi rāua mo te Pāti Kakariki.

He wahine ātaahua a Metiria.  He wahine pukumahi ia.  He tino koi hoki tōna hinengaro, he ngākau māhaki. He arahi tōrangapu tino kaha ia.  He pango ona makawe. He pakaka ona karu.  He waha tōna korero. He nui tōna menemene. He rua ōna 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." 

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.