At Home in This Land – A Journey of Learning Te Reo Māori

Rev. Hamish Dobbie (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine) is Assistant Deacon at St David’s Naenae Epuni.

Ka maumahara tonu au ki te wā i karangatia ai e te Atua kia whakahau ai i tōku Māoritanga. Hei tāna ki ahau “hoki mai ki te kāinga”. Mai i taua wā kua whaia e au tēnei ara, ā, he pono taku meatanga, ko tēnei tētahi o āku whiringa tino o tōku oranga.
I a tātou e kuhu ana ki te Wiki o te reo Māori, ka huritao au ki tōku ake haerenga reo, me ngā tini taonga o te reo e hōmai nei e te Atua.

I still remember when I was called directly by God to reclaim my Māori identity. He simply told me to “come home”. Since then, I have followed this path, and I can truly say it has been one of the best decisions of my life.
As we enter into Māori language week, I reflect on my own journey into learning te reo Māori, and the many ways that the language has been a gift that God has given me. 

He wheako whakahou nui tō te ako i te reo Māori mōku, nā te mea, he āhuatanga matua kua whakamahia e te Atua kia whati i te whakamā i tukuna mai ki tōku whānau, i runga i to ngaromanga o tō mātou ahurea i ngā reanga tokowhā ki mua. Mā te ako i te reo, e mōhio ai ahau he kura pounamu tōku Māoritanga, ā, e arohaina ana e te Atua, pērā i ngā ahurea kē.

Learning the language which our family lost four generations ago has been an immeasurably redemptive experience because it has become one of the main ways that God has broken the shame that my family inherited through the loss of our cultural identity. Learning te reo has been one of God’s ways of conveying to me that my Māori identity is nothing to be ashamed of and that it is loved as much by Him as any other culture.

Ka mutu, kua wherawherahia ai te Paipera, me te whakamoemiti e ngā āhuatanga kē tē paku mōhiotia e au. Mā te pānui o ngā karaipiture i te reo kē, kua whakawhānuitia ngā āhuatanga kē o te Atua. Waihoki, kua kitea te motuhaketanga o ōku tuākana, teina Māori i ngā āhuatanga o tō rātou ake whakamoemiti o te Atua i tō ake reo, mai rā anō i te taenga mai o te Rongopai. 

Speaking te reo has also opened up scripture and worship to me in a way that I never anticipated. By reading the word in a different language, who God is and the way he works has been expanded for me in a whole new way. Learning te reo has also showed the diversity of how my Māori sisters and brothers in Christ have worshipped God in our own tongue since the arrival of the gospel. Our people have developed incredibly unique and faithful ways of expressing their love towards God.

Kua kitea anōtia e au he mana motuhake tō te reo Māori, nā te mea he reo taketake nō te whenua nei. Ka whakaaro ake mō te tino me te mano i kapohia ai e Edge Kingsland, rāua ko Te Rautini, i whakaputaina ngā waiata reo Māori e rāua. Ko tāku e whakapono nei, he mana tō te reo Māori, nā te mea ko Aotearoa tōna ūkaipō, ā, e whakarewatia tēnei e te Atua.   

Finally, I have seen the ways in which te reo seems to hold a special kind of mana because it is the first language of this land. I think of how many of us were captivated by Edge Kingsland and Te Rautini when they started releasing worship songs in te reo. I believe that te reo holds a particular kind of weight because of its unique home in Aotearoa, and I believe that God honours that.

Ehara i te mea ka ako noa tātou i ngā kupu, me ngā rerenga hou i a tātou e ako ana i te reo Māori. Ko ōna hua, he tirohanga hou o te ao. Mā tēnei e mārama ake ai tātou ko wai te Atua, ā, ka pēhea ia e aroha ai i ngā tangata kē. 

Learning te reo is not simply about learning new words or phrases. It is about learning a new way of thinking, a whole new way of seeing the world. This, in turn, helps us to have a better understand of who God is, and the ways that he loves those who are different from us.

Ki ahau nei he mahi poropiti te ako me te kōrero Māori. Ko tētahi hua o te tāmitanga, ko te hanumi i tō tātou whakapono, me te tirohanga ōrite o te Atua. Engari e mōhio ana tātou he nui ake te Atua i te ahurea kotahi, ā, he rerekē āna mahi. Ko te kōrero Māori, he mahi poropiti e whakamaumahara ana tātou o tēnei tikanga.

I believe learning and speaking te reo is also, an act of prophetic imagination. One of the effects of colonisation has been to homogenise our faith, only seeing God through one cultural lens. But God is obviously bigger than one culture, and speaks and works in many different ways, and I believe that speaking te reo is a prophetic act that helps remind ourselves and others of that.
 

Nā reira, i a tātou e noho ana ki ō tātou hapori whakapono, ko tāku akiaki ki a tātou, kia ruku atu ki tēnei mea te reo Māori i runga i te ngākau māhaki i tēnei wiki. Mēnā ka ako i ētahi kupu hou, ka waiata i te waiata reo Māori rānei, ka āwhina tēnei kia kite i ngā mata tini o te Atua, ā, kia tupu ake i tō tātou aroha ki tō tātou nei kāinga. 

So, as we think about being at home in this land in our various faith communities, I would encourage us to engage with te reo Māori in small, simple, and faithful ways this week. Whether it’s learning some new words or phrases or playing an extra song in te reo during the service, leaning into the first language of this land will help us to see another side to God, and appreciate all the more the beauty of this place we call home.