He Raiona i roto i nga Otaota, na Margaret Mahy

Ko ngā pikitia me ngā kōrero o Lion in the Meadow nā Margaret Mahy, he mea tuhi ki te rae o te tamaiti i tipu ake i Aotearoa nei. I tēnei tau, i puta mai ki te ao He Raiona i roto i ngā Otaota nā Piripi Walker i whakamāori. I kōrero tahi a Krissi Smith rāua ko Piripi Walker mō te pukapuka tawhito kua ara mai anō hei pukapuka hou i te reo rangatira!

(You can read this interview in English tomorrow.)

K: Tēnā koe Piripi! Ahakoa ngā painga o tēnei ao matihiko, ehara tēnei i te kōrero kanohi ki te kanohi, he kōrero kanohi ki te rorohiko me kī! Nā, kāore anō tāua kia tino mōhio ko wai tāua. Kia tika ai taua āhuatanga, ā, hei whakamōhiotanga ki ngā kaipānui – he uri tēnei nō Ngāti Kōtimana e tuku mihi ana ki a koe. Ā kāti, nō hea koe?

P: Nō Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, nō Te Arawa, nō Ngāti Kōtimana anō hoki.

K: Nē rā! He whanaunga Kōtimana pea tāua. Hei tāpiri atu ki tērā, nō hea tō reo Māori? I tipu ake koe i te hapori kōrero Māori?

P: Kāore au i tipu ake i roto i te reo Māori. Taku kuia Māori, he kupu Māori anō āna i taku tupunga ake, ko tana māmā hoki he mōhio tūturu ki te kōrero Māori. I tīmata au ki te ako i Hiruhārama i te awa o Whanganui, i noho au i te kāuta o tētahi kuia i te pā, 17 ōku tau. Koia te kuia pupuru i ngā tikanga mō te tangihanga i tōna takiwā. Ko au tana tamaiti hī tuna, tapahi otaota. I ako hoki au i te reo i te whare patu mīti o te Gear Meat. Nō muri, ka haere au ki te whare wānanga o Wikitōria 22 ōku tau, ki te whai i te reo Māori i reira, i raro i a Hirini Moko Mead mā. I tērā wā hoki ka uru au ki ngā mahi whakaora reo o Ngāti Raukawa, o Te Ātiawa, o Ngā Toarangatira, e kīia nei ko Whakatupuranga Rua Mano. Ka hoki ki te mahi i runga i ngā marae ka ākona au e ngā pakeke ki ngā āhuatanga o tōku iwi.

K: Kua whakamōhio mai koe, nāu anō i whakamāori ētahi atu pukapuka tamariki pērā i te taonga nā Gavin Bishop i tuhi/whakaahua Koinei te Whare nā Haki i Hanga, me ētahi pukapuka nā Gay Hay me ētahi atu anō hoki. Ā, e mōhio ana au ko koe tētahi o ngā ētita mō te papakupu rongonui: He Pātaka Kupu. He kaituhi hoki koe?

P: Āe, kua tuhi pukapuka au mō ngā hītori o taku iwi.

K: Nā, kia tae mai tāua ki tēnei pukapuka tonu! Nō wai te whakaaro kia whakamāoritia He Raiona i roto i ngā Otaota?

P: Nā te hunga i Hachette (arā ko ngā kaiwhakatā i te pukapuka nei)

K: Ā, e pēhea ana ō whakaaro mō te pukapuka reo Pākehā nei, nā Whaea Margaret Mahy? Kua pānuitia kētia A Lion in the Meadow e koe, e āu nā tamariki?

P: Āe, kua pānuitia e au ki aku tamariki tokowhā i ngā rā o te tamarikitanga. He pukapuka ātaahua, he pai ki te tamariki. He mea pai ki te tamariki te raiona me te taika, he nui, he kai tangata, he whakamataku, he whakamīharo.

K: E arohaina tonutia ana tēnei pukapuka e te iti me te rahi – ki ōu ake whakaaro, he aha te take i pēnei ai te nui o te aroha?

P: He ātaahua ngā kupu a Margaret Mahy, te tino ringa rehe ki te tuhi pakiwaitara, he whakataukī tonu te rite. Waihoki ngā whakaahua, he rawe. I kī ake rā au, he whakamataku tēnei mea te raiona. He haumaru katoa a roto i te whare, kei waho kei ngā otaota, kei ngā rākau ētahi mea e mataku ai te tamaiti, e hiahia ai ia ki te toro haere. A roto, he haumaru, a waho, he ao kē anō. Koinei te āhua o te tamaiti ahakoa ko wai, ki te piri ki a Whaea kua haumaru, tawhiti i a Whaea he mōrearea a reira. I tēnei pukapuka ka āhei te hinengaro o te tamaiti ki te tipiwhenua atu ki te ao o waho.

K: Mīharo katoa ana au i tō whakamāori i te pukapuka nei. Ka nui te mihi! Ki taku nei titiro, i whai koe i te ara nā Margaret Mahy i whakatakoto – arā ko te ngawari o ngā rerenga kōrero i te nuinga o te wā, me te ruirui i ngā kupu whakaniko hei kīnaki. Pērā i tēnei rerenga: “Ka pakaru mai tetahi raiona nui whakaharahara, raiona ngengere, raiona kumikumi nui ki roto.” I pēhea te huarahi i whāia e koe kia tutuki pai ai tēnei mahi?

P: Koia nā, i ngana au ki te whai i ta Mākareta: te nuinga o ngā kupu he ngāwari, ētahi anō he uaua. Kia tūtaki hoki te tamaiti ki ētahi kupu tino hou. Ka whakahua ā-waha tonu au i ngā rerenga katoa i mua i te tuhinga ki te pepa, kia pai tonu te manawataki o te rerenga kātahi anō ka tuhia ki te pepa. He ture tēnei i ngā mahi Māori, tito pātere, haka, kia tū tika te tangi o te rerenga ina puta ki te takiwā. He pēnei i te tārai waka, i te tā moko, i te tārai tēpu, tūru rānei, kia taurite, kei tukoki.

K: He wero kei roto i te mahi whakamāori i ngā pukapuka tamariki?

P: Te mea nui kia māmā ngā kupu. Kotahi anake te kitenga, te rongonga, kua mārama te tamaiti ki te tikanga o taua kupu, o taua rerenga. Te mea nui, kia hoki ki ngā kupu e kōrerotia ana i te reo o ia rā. Kaua ngā kupu tauhou. Tuarua, kia pārekareka ngā rerenga ki te taringa o te tamaiti, waihoki te matua panui pukapuka. Tuatoru, kia ngahau ki te whakahua, he ātaahua ngā kupu Māori ki te whakahua, ki te waiata. Ko ērā kupu ka kōwhiritia e au.

K: Ki a au nei, ko tētahi āhuatanga rawe e kitea ai i tēnei pukapuka ko te whiriwhiri o te ao tūturu me te ao moemoeā. He kaha nō Margaret Mahy te tuhi pēnei, heoi, he kaha hoki nō ngā kaikōrero me ngā kaituhi i te ao Māori hoki. Kei te whakaae koe?

P: Āe rā, kei te whakaae, kāore he mutunga o te pohewa o te tamaiti, ko te puna tērā o ngā tākaro tamariki maha.

K: He māmā au – e whitu ngā tau o taku tamāhine, ā, he tino taonga ngā pukapuka reo Māori i tō māua whare. He tamariki, he mokopuna rānei āu? Pānui ai rātou i te pukapuka nei?

P: Tokowhitu aku mokopuna. Panui ai au i tēnei pukapuka ki ngā mea kōrero Māori. He pukapuka rongonui Te Raiona ki ngā tamariki katoa o te motu.

K: He kōrero whakakapi – ko wai ō tino kaituhi pukapuka tamariki he Māori rātou? Waihoki, he aha tō tino pukapuka i a koe e tamariki ana?

P: Taku tino kaituhi mā ngā tamariki Māori ko Te Rangihaeata, ngā kōrero mō Māui, me te Rangikāheke o Te Arawa, ana pakiwaitara katoa, mai i a Kae rāua ko Tutunui, ki a Hatupatu me Kurangaituku. He mea pai kia whakatupua ngā tamariki Māori kia rongo rātou i ngā pūrākau atua, tūpuna, taniwha, Hawaiki hoki. Ehara i te mea kua ngaro. Kua whakarauorangia te katoa i roto i ngā tuhinga o tērā atu rau tau. Ka taea ēnei te hauhake mai anō, te ako anō, me te whakaputa ā-waha, ā-pānui pukapuka rānei ki ā tātou tamariki. Mā te mōhio ki ēnei pūrākau ka hoki mai anō tētahi wāhi o te Māoritanga, e tupu Māori ai ā tātou tamariki.

K: Whū! Tēnā koe i ēnei kōrero āu, e te rangatira! ‘E tupu Māori ai ā tātou tamariki’ – koinā te kōrero!