Hika mā – me tino ū ahau e noho tonu ai ki te taumata o Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Ngāti Pāhuwera). I pānui ahau i a Whai me Te Aka, te papakupu reo Māori-Pākehā, i tērā atu o aku ringa, ā, ko te mea tuatahi hei kimi māku ko ‘whai’. Hei tūmahi, ko tōna tikanga ko te kimi, ko te taki karakia, ko te tākaro mā te kaui, ko te riro. Hei tūingoa, he roha tonu. Katoa aua whakamārama i pūkei rā ki ōku mahara anō ko te piupiu kei te uhi.

Ko Whai tā Hawkins kohinga toikupu nā tētahi kaiwhakaputa hou i Te Whanganui-a-Tara, nā We Are Babies, arā, e whanake kaha nei i tana whai wāhitanga i te rārangi whānui o te wāhanga toikupu o Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Kua tuhia ki te reo me te reo Pākehā, ā, ka kōkiri ānō nei he hōtaka kapa haka, e whitu ōna wāhanga: ko te Waiata tira, ko te Whakaeke, ko te Waiata Tawhito, ko te Poi, ko te Waiata ā-ringa, ko te Haka, me te Whakawātea. He kaiako tuarua a Hawkins, ā, mārakerake ana te kite i tōna aroha ki ōna tauira e piata mai ana. I tino pai ki ahau tēnei nō Kaiako Dialogues:

Pō Kanikani

I ask for gum in the van

The kids want in

You won’t be pashing anyone tonight

you don’t need it

Then why do you need one, Whaea?

I Ruru pivot from the passenger’s seat

so they can see my Kahungunu eyebrows

Ewwww!

Oi! Don’t you fullas say eww!

In the truest of Tūhoe tones

Uh, oh sorry Miss

we meant Eww-lah-lah

Ko te auaha hoki o ngā whiti a Hawkins, he tohu nō te taera e tino whai ana i ēnei rā, kua tau nei ngā whakaaro he toikupu ‘māori’ ēnei. Kāore e kaha kitea ana te ororite, te taki ōkawa rānei – engari kē ia, he hōhonutanga anō tō ēnei toikupu. Ko te wairua matarau tērā ka kaha ake i a Hawkins ka whitiwhiti reo, whakareanga, ahurea, whakamārama hoki.

He nui ngā āhuatanga kei te haere ake i konei, engari kāore he rangirua, kāore hoki e kitea te korenga o te take: ko te matarautanga o Hawkins e mārama ana te kite he pūkenga kē. I Hihi ka tohua ngā whiti ki te A, E, I, O, U (ka waiata aunoatia e au), arā, ko tēnā, ko tēnā e pupuri ana i tōna anō whakamāramatanga mō te kupu hihi. I mōhio anake ahau ki te manu, engari he rāranga tōtika hoki te hihi (i te pāngarau) he kawekawe, he reireia hoki nō te rā.

A lone beam undoes her cloak

fingers the length of her spine

grazes a lesson at each notch.

Fierce protector of the land

she turns to face the darkness

The shadow contours her Māori Maleficent

her hair in horns the last defence.

Kia koke ana te kohinga, ka tīmata te ouou o tā Hawkins tuhi ki te reo Pākehā, ā, ka nui ake te reo, tae rawa ki te toikupu whakamutunga, Aho, kei te reo Māori katoa. He kupu anō te Aho e kapi ana i ngā āhuatanga huhua: ko ōna tikanga ko te taura hī ika, he kānoi raranga, he tātai whakapapa anō hoki; ā, i te pāngarau, he ‘chord’, he ‘sine’ rānei. I Tuia, ka tuhi a Hawkins, “I’ve fought 20 years / to feel these kupu / I’ll spit them wherever / I like / don’t you know who my ancestors are?” Ka whakaaro nui hoki ahau ki tēnei nō A culturally responsive pedagogy:

To you they’re all same

every call, every

action, every

rolling of eyes

all haka

same

E tika ana, nō nā tata tonu nei pōhēhētia ai ahau katoa, katoa ngā kupu Māori i ōrite nei te hanga ki ahau. I te hikinga o tā Hawkins mānuka, i whai ahau kia āta whakarehurehutia taku whirinaki tahi atu ki te reo Pākehā. Mehemea he rārangi a Aho kua taea e au te whai ahakoa kāore anō ahau kia mārama. Ka mutu ki te:

Haere, haere, haere ki runga

ki Ngā kurakura o Hinenuitepō.

Ko taku mārama ki tēnei, he pōhiri tēnei ki piki ake, ki runga ki te wāhi e kīia rā e mātou i te reo Rātini, ko ‘Aurora Australis’. He pikitia ātaahua tēnei hei whakakapi i tētahi pukapuka e pīataata ana i te whakapapa me te hapori.

I arotakea e Elizabeth Heritage

nā Ruth Smith (Ngāti Kōhuru, Te Aitanga-ā-Mahaki) i whakamaori