Graduation: Hui Whakapumau

It was part of The Plan to acknowledge my graduation for the reo Māori course with a piece of writing about the day. It’s been nearly a week and I’ve been putting it off; it’s been a real struggle to think how to write about this special occasion. Do I make it like a diary entry, or in the third person, like a narrative? I thought about focusing on how I felt and spinning the day in to a poem, laced together with thin threads of whimsy and rhyme. But none of it felt right. I want everything in the plan to be purposeful and packed with meaning, and this piece of writing is no exception. I just didn’t know how to go about it.

And then I realised. It’s hard to do not because of how I write, but how I speak. How am I meant to share my experiences in English about something that is fundamentally rooted in reo Māori? Deciding to write about graduation in reo Māori gave this piece of writing purpose. What I want to say wasn’t going to change but all of a sudden, this potential piece of writing had become one of the most meaningful things I’d ever put together.

Please, you fluent speakers of reo, bear in mind that the following collection of sentences haven’t been checked by someone more knowledgeable than me; a novice, a beginner, very much still a student – quite literally. However inaccurate this is, the mistakes and intentions and effort behind these kupu are a testament to the course and what I’ve been taught, as well as a window to what I want to achieve.

Ko Ruapehu tōku maunga,
ko Whanganui tōku awa,
ko Berwick Castle tōku waka,
Ko Wagastaf tōku hapū,
No Turakina ahau.

Whakamutunga tau, ko I te ākonga o te Ara Reo Māori taumata e rua.

Last year, I was a student of te Ara Reo Māori level two.

I ako ahau ki te reo māori, kātahi i mahi ahau ki ngā kupu hou, ā muri i tērā, i ako etahi atu ahau.

I learnt te reo Māori, and then I studied the new words, and after that, I learned some more.

I tākaro ahau i ngā kēmu, i waiata ahau ki ngā waiata, me i tuhituhi ahau i ngā kōrero me ngā kupu hou.

I played games, I sang songs, and I wrote the language and new words.

I inoi ahau.

I prayed.

I tēnei ra, i paetahi ahau! Ko ataahua te hui whakapūmau. I tino hiamo ngā tauira rāua ngā kaiako tātou.

Today, I graduated! The graduation ceremony was beautiful. All the students and teachers were very excited.

Engari, i te āwangawanga ahau ki ngā hu haunene I runga I te atamira!

But I was worried about my noisy shoes on the stage!

I haere ahau I runga I te atamira me i whakakikini ahau ki a Paul. I whakarongo ahau i te waiata o Alice.

I walked on the stage and winked at Paul. I heard Alice singing.

I angitu ahau, i whakahīhī ahau, i harikoa ahau.

I felt successful, I felt proud, I felt happy.

Engari, kua mutu taku kōrero mō tēnei wā, nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

However, this is the end of my talk for now, therefore, greetings, greetings, greetings to you all.