Nā Puawai Hudson | Te Ia Ka Oho
Kua whakawhiwhia e tēnei raukura a Rita Powick (Te Ātiawa, Ngāi Tahu) i Te Tohu Hapori i Ngā Tohu Hiranga o Aotearoa mō te tau hou mō ōna mahi mō te ao Māori, mō te mātauranga, me ōna tūranga ki runga i ngā komiti mana whakahaere.
“I ohorere rawa ahau i te taenga mai o te kōrero ki au, nā te mea, te maha o ngā tangata ka mahi i ngā mahi me kī, hei painga mō te kaupapa,” hei tā Rita Powick.
“E maha ngā tangata i arahi i au me kī, ki te hanga marae ki te kainga, ki te whakarite rōpū Māori ki te kainga, ki te whakakaha i ngā whānau o te kainga. Kei roto i au ērā momo āhuatanga. Ko tāku, ki te whai atu i ngā mahi nā rātou i whakarite,” hei tā Rita anō.
E manawanui ana tēnei ihorei kia kite i ngā hua, i te tiketiketanga o te reo Māori, kua tū ia hei kaiwhakawā me te kaiwhakahaere o ngā whakataetae o Te Tauihu o Te Waka Manu Kōrero, nāna anō i arahi i ngā whakataetae kapa hapa mō te Taiopenga ki Wairau, he mema ia o Te Tauihu Tikanga Pou, i whakaara kia tautoko i ngā whānau i roto i te mate kowheori anō hoki.
He kaimahi ia hei pouako rauemi mō te reo Māori, he mema o te Rōpū mahi i Whakatū i tētehi rūmaki reo e kī ana ko Te Pā Wānanga ki Omaka marae i te tau 2019, he kaiarahi mō te Marlborough Lines Māori Scholarship Panel kia tautoko i ngā tauira Māori ki roto i ngā mātauranga matua, kua tautokohia e ia i te whanaketanga o te Kōhanga Reo, ā, i mahitahi ki Te Tauihu o Te Waka Māui Waitangi Tribunal Hearings.
Ko te pā o Waikawa te pito o tōna ao, erangi kua whānui te makuru o ngā hua o ōna mahi. Kua 30 tau tēnei raukura o Te Ātiawa e whai tūranga ana ki runga i ngā mana whakahaere a motu, a takiwā, a iwi, a marae me ngā kaupapa Māori.
“Me pēhea te whakea i ngā wawata o ngā reanga kia tipu ora te whānau,” hei tāna.
Ko te tino wawata a Rita, kia whakatūwhera i tētehi Kura Kaupapa Māori ki roto i tōna takiwā, nā te mea kāhore anō kua whakatūria tētehi mō ngā whānau ki tōna whenua taurikura. Mā tēnei wawata ka whakawhenua anō te reo Māori ki roto i ngā whanau Māori.
