Interview with Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins (Tūhoe)⁠—Tumu Ahurei, Deputy Vice-Chancellor

When talking about language revitalization, we always talk about the far off future. What are some short term goals?

The use of the language short term is the long term goal. We currently look to utilise the best ways to support te reo Māori use, mostly in increasing how frequently we speak it to each other. In the long term, the focus and goal of Te Taura Whiri is to create safe and fun environments to make learning the language easier.

What part do students play in the promotion and survival of the language?

Generally, people should have a positive attitude and genuine desire to learn the language. For students, the best thing to do is focus on colloquial usage. By using language colloquially, academic staff will get a sense of students’ true desires for reo acquisition. This kind of casual chat would usually occur in the marae, but since it has been closed, we need to create alternative spaces to kōrero. 

It's almost been a year and a half since the marae closed. What should we be doing to continue promotion of te reo without a place such as our whare?

The language lives within people, not houses. I know that people who got the opportunity to be at our marae are feeling lonely, but there are also some students who were never even welcomed onto it. In saying that, we must find a time and space to speak the language to each other, whether it be to a student, lecturer, or staff.

What do you do in the absence of the whare? 

I look to the Living Pā currently being built. They have now dug into the land and started to put posts up⁠—I'm really excited to see the progress. The finish line used to seem far away, but it has already been a year and a half of building, so it’s not too far from being open. 

What is the envisioned for after the opening of the living Pā?

First, we need to sustainably live in the building for a year before it can be certified as a ‘living building’. Afterall, it’s not as if completing the pā is enough, or that completion is the aim of the project. There are standards we must meet for it to be ‘living’. Given the size and importance of that task, we should focus on it before looking ahead. Although, looking ahead with this kaupapa, my hope is that I would have had grandchildren to  spend time with, care for and raise. 

 What are some values that you would like to instill in our mokopuna?

Belief! They need to believe that there is value in the Māori language, there are benefits to learning te reo Māori. They also need to believe in movements like Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa, and that there are benefits to having te reo as a first language. People contest that if you focus primarily on the reo, children become unable to learn in English. However, this isn’t the case. In this world, English is unavoidable and will be learnt; this is the beauty of bilingualism. 

When those mokopuna come to University, what will the attitudes of that University be to te reo Māori and Ao Māori

If I had psychic abilities strong enough to answer that, I’d use them on the Lotto! I don’t know what the attitudes will be, but I do know that you, as young people, will look after our spoken reo.