18 Hakihea 2002
For immediate release
(See English text Page 2)
He Tautoko mö ngä Whakatutukitanga a te Kuia o te Köhanga Reo
“Ka ngäwari noa iho te heke iho o Iritana Täwhiwhirangi, kaiwhakahaere o te Köhanga Reo Trust ä te tau hou, me te möhio
anö he äwhina nui täna ki te hanga huarahi e whakatutuki ai te whakaora reo Mäori,” koinä te körero a Haami Piripi,
kaiwhakahaere matua o te Taura Whiri i te Reo Mäori.
“Kua ü a Iritana ki täna kaupapa whakaora i te reo Mäori mö te 20 tau. Kähore e taea e te tini rangatira Mäori,
kaiwhakahaere raini te kï pënä. Nä konä i kitea ai te whakapakaritanga o ngä whänau me ngä tamariki Mäori, ä, he täpu
hoki i te ngaro haere o te reo Mäori. Kua pau i a ia öna kaha, töna matakite me töna mäia ki te whakatutuki i tënei
whäinga mai i te kukunetanga mai o te käkano o te Köhanga Reo, tae atu ki töna pakeketanga, hanga pai mai, hanga taimaha
mai
“E whakamihi atu ana mätou möna i whakatairanga i te kaupapa o te köhanga reo ki te ao, ä, hei kaupapa ake mö ëtahi atu
iwi taketake, tängata whenua anö hoki. E möhiotia whänuitia ana tënei kaupapa me öna tikanga e te tini tauiwi hoki.
“Nä te Köhanga Reo i hanga atamira mö te reo Mäori hei whakapakaritanga möna, ä, me mihi te iwi Mäori ki a ia nä te mea
ki te kore tö tätou reo Mäori, kua kore ö tätou tikanga Mäori.”
Ka Mutu
18 Hakihea2002
For immediate release
Support for outstanding achievements of Köhanga Reo Matriarch
“Iritana Tawhiwhirangi can step down as Te Köhanga Reo Trust Chief Executive next year happy in the knowledge that her
work has helped achieve an important milestone for Mäori language regeneration,” says Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Mäori
Language Commission Chief Executive Haami Piripi.
“Iritana has done what many Mäori leaders, let alone Chief Executives have not, and that is fight for 20 years to ensure
the survival of the Mäori language. This in turn has played a significant role in the empowerment of Mäori whänau and
children and gone a long way to arrest the decline of the Mäori language. She has had to use her strength, foresight and
fearlessness to achieve this and has been involved from the movement’s birth to its adulthood carrying it through the
good and the hard times.
“We applaud her work which has meant that the concept of ‘Köhanga Reo’ has become world renown and has been adopted by
many other indigenous people. It is also a term known by many non-Mäori New Zealanders.
“Köhanga Reo has given te reo Mäori a platform to regain its strength and for that all Mäori people ought to be thankful
to her, for without our language our culture is lost.”
Enz