Te Petihana Reo Māori was delivered to Parliament on the September 14, 1972.
More than 30,000 people had signed the document asking for active recognition of te reo Māori.
Find out if the team can translate the document that helped make this entire podcast possible.
Nearly 50 years since that historic petition was delivered to parliament, the whakamāori team tell us what it would have said if it was delivered in the reo it was demanding recognition for.
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TRANSLATIONS - printable version here
Nā Ani-Piki Tuari
English
The origins of the petition emerged out of the efforts of Ngā Tamatoa and the Te Reo Māori Society, two university-based groups which sought to have te reo Māori taught in schools. Along with Huinga Rangatahi (the New Zealand Māori Students’ Association), they gathered 30,000 signatures from across Aotearoa on a petition supporting this initiative. The petition was delivered to Parliament with the support of many kaumātua, and 14 September 1972 was declared Māori Language Day. Three years later, it was expanded to Māori Language Week.
Whakamāori
He mea hua te petihana nō (i.) te hekenga werawera (e te manawanui?) o Ngā Tamatoa me te manatōpū reo Māori, ko rāua, rāua ngā ohu tauira nō roto mai i te whare wānanga i whai kia ākona ai te reo Māori ki ngā kura. Nā rātou ko te huinga rangatahi (te kāhui tauira Māori o Aotearoa) i tono kia 30,000 ngā mokotā huri noa I Aotearoa mā te petihana kia tautoko i tēnei kaupapa. I runga i te whakaaro nui o te tokomaha o ngā kaumātua, I tukuna atu te pētihana ki te whare paremata, ā, i mana ko te 14 o ngā rā o Hepetema te rā 1972 ki (te whakanui i) te reo Māori. Ka hipa te toru tau, kātahi ka whakaroa ake ki te kotahi wiki
Nā Chey Milne
English
To the Honourable Speaker and the Members of the House of Representatives of New Zealand in Parliament assembled.
We, the undersigned, do humbly pray that courses in Māori language and aspects of Maori culture be offered in ALL those schools with large Māori rolls and that these courses be offered, as a gift to the Pakeha from the Māori, in ALL other New Zealand schools as a positive effort to promote a more meaningful concept of Integration.
Whakamāori
Kei te kākā tarahae me ngā mema o te whare rūnanga o ngā rangatira o Niu Tīrini kua hui nei ki te whare pāremata nei.
Anei mātou te iwi kua hai, e inoi pono atu nei kia whakamanahia ā mātou akoranga, Reo Māori, āhuaranga Māori hoki ki roto i ngā kura katoa e kī ana i te Māori, ka mutu, kia tukua hei manatunga nā te Māori ki te Pākeha, (otirā) ki ngā kura katoa e toe ana hei whakatairanga, hei whakaū, i te āhuareka o nohongatahitanga whai mana.
E hoa maa, teenaa koutou katoa. E piirangi ana maatou kia whakaakongia te reo Maaori, me ngaa tikanga Maaori, ki roto i NGAA KURA KATOA e maha ana ngaa taitamariki Maaori, aa, kia hoatu hoki eenei taonga hei koha ki te Paakehaa, ki roto i oo raatou kura katoa, kia tika ai te koorero he iwi kotahi taatou.
Nā Anaha Hiini
English
The main aim of this petition was to see Maori language offered in all schools as an integral part of the syllabus, beginning at primary school level.
To implement this, Nga Tamatoa recommended that fluent Maori speakers be trained in teaching methodology at university and at training college, and that initially these people could be employed as visiting teachers until there were sufficient to have teachers of Maori language attached to every school in New Zealand.
Following the petition, Nga Tamatoa approached the Government with a view to running Te Reo Maori seminars to train fluent Maori speaking Maoris in the methods of teaching the Maori language.
The Government refused to organise such seminars on the grounds of the expense involved, so Nga Tamatoa itself decided to run them.
Whakamāori
Ko te whakaurunga o te reo Māori ki ngā kura katoa o te motu hei kaupapa matua o te marautanga e tīmata ana i ngā nohinohi o te kura tuatahi rā anō te whāinga matua o te petihana.
E whakatinanahia ai, he mea tūtohu e Ngā Tamatoa kia whakangungua te hunga matatau ki te reo Māori ki ngā tikanga whakaako, ki te whare wānanga me te whare takiura, ā, ko te manako ka whai tūranga whakaako tonu te hunga rā hei kaiako toro kia whai kaiako Māori rā anō ngā kura katoa o te motu.
Whai muri i te petihana, ka whakapā atu a Ngā Tamatoa ki te Kāwanatanga kia whaiwhakaarohia te kōkiritanga o ētehi wānanga Reo Māori hei kaupapa whakangungu i te Māori e matatau ana ki tōna reo Māori ki ngā tikanga o te whakaako i te reo.
I whakahēngia e te Kāwanatanga ēnei momo wānanga i te nui rawa o te utu, nō reira nā Ngā Tamatoa kē ngā wānanga rā i kōkiri, i whakahaere.
- Te Petihana Reo Māori, signed by 30,000 people and delivered to parliament on September 14, 1972
Made for RNZ by Arataua