Te Ara Reo week 2 [E tipu e rea]

WEEK 2 [HOMEWORK]

This week we translate the famous whakatauaki from Apirana Ngata and relate it to ourselves and our purpose for learning Te Reo Maori me ona tikanga. (Wikipedia Maori Apirana Ngata and Wikipedia general Apirana Ngata).  We learned about this whakatauaki in Te Ataarangi so I was sort of familiar with it.  I wrote it up on the kitchen wall to live with it for a week and consider how it applies to me.  We are also to think about how swapping lines 3 and 5 might apply to the world today.  The same whakatauaki also cropped up in a conversation I had this week with another parent at Kohanga, whereby she related it to a decision in her whanau.  I was amazed at this coincidence, and heartened to see people apply it to their lives.

Breaking it down…

E tipu e rea, mō ngā rā o tou ao
Grow forth seedling, for the days of your world (your life… your future…)
Or, take this seed of knowledge? Apirana was older than the girl he passed this on to, so ‘to ao’ could also refer to the modern world she was growing up in.
x
Ko ō ringa ki ngā rākau a te Pākehā
Hei ora mō tō tinana
In your hands are the tools of the Pakeha, for the physical wellbeing/ sustanance of your body.
What are these tools?  An education, a livelihood, a career? items of physical items comfort? technologies?
x
Ko tō ngākau ki ngā taonga a ō tīpuna
Māori, Hei tikitiki mō tō mahunga
In your heart are the treasures of your ancestors, to adorn your head
Treasures: Te Reo, tiaki tangata, tiaki whenua, manaakitanga, whanau, whanaungatanga, he karakia, he waiata, he whakatauki.  These are all values we live by or treasure, passed down from our tipuna.
To adorn your head= To display these things outwardly, publically.  Or to keep these things in the forefront of your mind?
x
Ko tō wairua ki Te Atua
Nāna nei ngā mea katoa.
Your spirit, dedicate to your God, maker of all things.
x

People today?

Many people display their ‘rakau a te Pakeha’ outwardly.  People can be defined as or judged by what they have achieved, gathered, or gained in their lives more so than by their inner qualities and tikanga values.

How it applies to me?

While the whakatauki splits into 3 ahua: tinana, ngakau and wairua, I think the whakatauaki suggests an inter-relatedness should occur in these things.  It suggests growth, which should occur in all of these areas too.  Concurrent to the ongoing development of my work, my education, and my family life, my life should outwardly reflect those aspects of ao maori; nurturing the language, the people, family, land.  Being hospitable.  Using waiata, karakia, te reo in everyday life.

3 thoughts on “Te Ara Reo week 2 [E tipu e rea]”

  2. E Tipu e rea…Vocational services in the disability sector. A leading philisophical approach to educate the educated. E tipu e rea was a name identified appropiate to enhance a service where activities of Te Ao Maori were taught to people with an Intellectual Disability. Our late Whaea Mere Knight of Ngati Porou descent, encouraged steadfast of Maori culture as a means to stand strong like that of the Great Tane Mahuta, in all the while adopt the teachings of Te Ao Pakeha. So that we are prepared to grow with the future, with all the blessings and guidance of your Tupuna and the humilty of your Aitua.

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