Why am I bothering...

Why am I bothering to learn te reo Māori?

An English immigrant to New Zealand asked me this question. Married to an African-American, she's no racist - unlike some others who have asked me the same question. 

I only gave her the political, no-doubt-naive part of my answer, which is:

Aotearoa/New Zealand is in a unique position for race relations. It's far from perfect, but in general Māori (the brown people) & Pakeha (the pink people) get on pretty much OK. You don't need to study a lot of history to realise that things could have gone a lot worse. Most other nations with a multiracial history have a far more bloody record - and can expect more of the same. However, you don't have to study the health, education and economic indicators deeply to realise that Māori are not as well off as Pakeha. This is a shared challenge, an issue for all of us. All of us want it better, even if we don't agree on the way to achieve it.

So, we have a rocky start, quite a lot of forbearance, some problems, and a lot of willingness for things to go well. I truly believe that we have a chance to be a place where different kinds of people really can live in harmony. Not by pretending we are all the same, but by understanding, admiring and relishing those differences.  Language, and the cultural understanding that goes along with it, seems like a key part of this. I want to be a real part of building that future. Happily I have an interest in language, and received an invitation to a supportive opportunity to learn.

Then there's the spiritual answer.

Te Reo Māori is the language of the soul of this land. All the beautiful special places were first named in te reo. Mimiwhangata. Aoraki. Rakiura. Waitaki. Walk among puriri, kauri, totara in the company of piwakawaka, hihi, riroriro. Even the palest Pakeha has some idea what a taonga is.

The words have been coming to me all my life, one by one. Given, shared by the native speakers. It feels like the time for me to become an adult and learn to put them together, to speak my heart in the language of my home

Ngā mihinui