Mai i te reo kotahi ki ngā reo e rua
I te tīmatanga o te rau tau mai i 1900, ko te reo Māori tonu te reo o te nuinga rawa atu o te iwi Māori. Ka haere te wā, ā, ka uru haere ko tērā o ngā reo. Tatū rawa ki ngā tau o 1930, noho ngātahi ai, noho taurite ai te whakamahinga o ngā reo e rua, arā, ko te reo Māori ki te kāinga me te marae, ko te reo Ingarihi i te kura me ngā whitiwhitinga kōrero me te kāwanatanga, ngā kaiwhakawhiwhi mahi hoki.
Hei ngā tau o te tekau tau o 1930 ka kōrero ētahi Pākehā mō te whai kia kotahi anake te reo. Inā rā te kupu i whakaputaina e te kaiwhakahaere mō ngā take mātauranga, a T.B. Strong i te tau 1930, ‘the natural abandonment of the native tongue inflicts no loss on the Maori’ (hauwarea ake te ngaronga o te reo, ehara i te mea kino mō te Māori)1. Ahakoa tērā, ka whakatenetene te Māori kia kōrero i tōna reo ki te kāinga. Waihoki ka noho te ao mātauranga hei papa e tutū ai te puehu mō ngā tikanga te take; ko ētahi Māori e mea ana kei te takahia te ahurea, te reo me te tuakiri Māori. He rite tonu te hahau i ngā tamariki Māori mō te kōrero i te reo i te kura te take.
Ka mimiti ngā tāngata kōrero
I ngā tau 1920 ki te 1960 ka mimiti ngā tāngata kōrero i te reo Māori. He take i pēnei ai. Ka heke te tokomaha o ngā tāne Māori i te matematenga ki ngā pakanga e rua o te ao. Tāpiri atu, i te nekehanga o te nui tāngata Māori ki ngā taone, ka tautokona te hanumitanga o ngā whānau Māori ki roto i te hapori nui, kīia ai tēnei he ‘pepper potting’. Ko te whāinga ia, kia whakanōhia te whānau Māori kotahi ki roto i te maha o ngā whānau tauiwi, kia aha ai, kia taunga ai kia whai pakiaka ai ngā whakaaro, te ahurea me te reo o te Pākehā ki roto aua whānau.
Ko te reo Ingarihi kei runga
Ka noho tuwhera te mātauranga a te Pākehā hei kuhunga mō ngā waiaro me ngā uara kino mō te reo Māori, nāwai ā, ka pakaru rawa ēnei kino ki roto ki ngā kāinga Māori. Taro ake, i runga i te titiro a te nui tāngata Māori, mā te reo Ingarihi anake ka puta te ihu o te tangata kia whiwhi ai ki ngā hua o te ao hurihuri nei.
Ngā take Māori ki ngā whare wānanga
I taua wā tonu kei te whakakaupapatia i ngā whare wānanga ngā akomanga mō ngā take Māori. Kua nui haere te iwi Māori kūare ki tō rātou reo me ngā tikanga, engari kei te kimi, kei te rangahau. Hāunga te mea nō te tau 1952 rā anō tīmata ai te ako i tētahi take Māori ki te Auckland University College; i te tau 1929 ka whakaae te University Of New Zealand Senate kia whai wāhi te reo Māori ki te Tohu Paetahi (Bachelor of Arts). Mai i te tau 1967 ka kuhuna ngā take Māori hei take i te whāinga o te Tohu Paetahi (Bachelor of Arts) ki Te Whare Wānanga o Te Ika-a-Māui (Victoria University) i Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
I te tau 1978 ka huakina ngā taumata o te Tohu Paerua ki ngā take Māori i ngā whare wānanga o Waikato me Wikitoria. I te tau 1981 ka tīmata te ako o te reo Māori ki Te Whare Wānanga o Otakou, heoi nō te tau 1990 rā anō ka tīmata te ako ki te taumata o te paerua. Ka tirohia ēnei kaupapa he kaupapa whakanui i te reo.
Ngā ākonga Māori kōrero reo Ingarihi
Kāore noa iho i roa te tūnga o ngā tari Māori, ka tīmata te taetae ake ki ngā whare wānanga, ko ngā ākonga Māori kāore e mōhio ana ki tō rātou reo. Ki ētahi o ēnei ākonga, ko te whare wānanga he waka hei ako i te reo me te ahurea, hei rongo hoki i te tuakiri Māori. He mahi nui ki te auaha i ngā akomanga mō ngā take Māori, kia hāngai ai ngā mahi mō te nui Māori kei te kuhu atu ki ngā whare wānanga engari he tauhou ki te ao o ngā whare wānanga.
Ka oreore ngā kaupapa tōrangapū
Waihoki, ka noho ngā whare wānanga hei taumata hāpai i ngā take tōrangapū a te Māori. Ka whānau mai a Ngā Tamatoa (ki Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki-makau-rau) me Te Rōpū Reo Māori (ki Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui) i te aranga ake o ngā take tōrangapū. Kīia ai ngā tekau tau o 1970 me 1980 ko ngā tau i maranga te ao Māori ki runga, me te aha, ko ngā ākonga i puta ō rātou ihu, ka huri ki te tohe mō te reo ka ngaro, ki te panoni i ngā waiaro mō te reo me ngā take pērā i te whenua me te Tiriti o Waitangi me ōna tika. Nā te mea i rongo tēnei hunga i te ngau kino o te kore mōhio ki te reo ka whawhai rātou kia arongia nuitia ai tōna tūranga e te taupori o Aotearoa.
Te pitihana mō te reo Māori
I te tau 1972 i kohia e Ngā Tamatoa ngā waitohu o ngā tāngata e 30,000 ki tētahi pitihana e wero ana i te Pāremata kia tahuri te kāwanatanga ki te ako i te reo ki ngā kura. I roto hoki taua rōpū i ngā nekenekehanga kia tohungia he Rā mō te Reo Māori, ā, nō te tau 1975 ka whakaroatia atu kia eke hei Wiki mō te Reo Māori. Kei te kaha tonu te Wiki mō te Reo Māori, mai i ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau mai i 2000 kua noho ko Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori hei whakatakoto i ngā kaupapa ka hāpaitia i roto i te wiki.
