She's Pākehā, but raising her children with te reo Māori

Sunday, 9 September 2018

Jess Matthews married into a Māori family and is now a competent speaker of te reo.

Monday marks the start of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori (Māori Language Week) – a time to explore, promote and celebrate New Zealand's second most widely spoken language. Reporter LEE KENNY meets one Christchurch woman who chose to learn te reo after marrying into a Māori family.

Jess Matthews considers herself to be a pretty typical New Zealander – but where she differs from most Pākehā is that she speaks te reo Māori.

From knowing nothing but the basics eight years ago, she and her husband now raise their children as both English and Māori speakers and she says that anyone can learn the language.

Born in Christchurch, she attended Papanui High School before training to be teacher in her early 20s.

She now co-owns the restaurant Fush, in Wigram, with her husband and sister-in-law.

* Māori lessons with a side of Fush and chips

* Plans to build a bilingual New Zealand a 'bold step'**

The mum-of-two said she learnt basic te reo at school but it was not until she met husband Anton that she decided she wanted to be able to speak the language.

'I see myself as a commonality in New Zealand. My mum's side are from England and my dad's side are from New Zealand,' she said.

'As a white New Zealander I grew-up quite ignorant of te reo. I knew the vowel sounds from school but I had no more than what any other New Zealander would have.

'When I met Anton I was 22. I knew it was something that was important to him in his life, so it was important for me too.'

Anton began to teach Jess te reo at home and she developed a novel way of overcoming the embarrassment of mispronouncing Māori words, by practising on their pet dog.

'Anton and his family had spoken te reo Māori for a long time and at first the main thing for me was getting over the nerves.

'We had a dog and I would give all the commands in te reo. It felt less embarrassing because it didn't matter if I messed-up.'

Over the next eight years she gradually increased her knowledge and understanding of the language and what makes her journey all the more impressive is that even among New Zealand's Māori population, te reo speakers are in the minority.

According to a report published by Stats NZ: 'The proportion of Māori able to hold an everyday conversation in the Māori language decreased 3.7 percentage points between 1996 and 2013 […] from 25 per cent to 21.3 per cent.'

Despite being recognised as an official language in 1987, the number of te reo Māori speakers was dwarfed by those who speak English.

Jess Matthews is raising her children, Te Ariā Aroha, 5, and Mana Ariki, 3, as both English and Māori speakers.

Data from the 2013 Census revealed that 96.1 per cent of Kiwis speak English, compared to 3.7 per cent who speak te reo.

Of New Zealand's 148,395 te reo speakers, 84.5 per cent identified as Māori, with the largest percentage of people aged over 70.

In fact, those between 80 and 84 are more than twice as likely to be able to converse in te reo than those aged 20 to 24.

Campaigns such as Generation reo, which promoted the language among young people, and Ngāi Tahu's strategy of having at least 1000 South Island homes using te reo by 2025 have helped increase the number of Māori speakers but the issue took centre-stage last month when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she planned to raise her daughter Neve Te Aroha bilingual.

'I think it's great that she has said that,' Jess said.

'It's huge for te reo that she wants to raise her daughter bilingual. Even if it just gets people talking about the language then it's been beneficial.'

Today, Māori words such as mana, whānau, kai and haka are commonly understood by most New Zealanders, demonstrating the growth and cultural significance of te reo.

It is a far cry from the days when use of the language was actively discouraged.

In 1931 Bishop Thomas Strong wrote in The Education of South Sea Island Natives, that 'the natural abandonment of the native tongue inflicts no loss on the Māori'.

Jess Matthews has learnt te reo Māori and is raising her children Te Ariā Aroha, 5, and Mana Ariki, 3, as bilingual.

However, in the decades that followed great strides were made to raise awareness and normalise the language's use.

In 1972 a petition was launched calling for the introduction of te reo classes in New Zealand schools.

The campaign by Ngā Tamatoa and the te reo Māori Society was presented to Parliament with more than 30,000 signatures.

The same year saw the first Māori Language Day – which was extended to Māori Language Week in 1975 – while in 1978 Rūātoki Māori District High School in the Bay of Plenty became the country's first officially bilingual school.

Although English was spoken by 25 times more people, te reo remained the second most widely used language – ahead of Samoan, Hindi and Chinese.

And according to the Ministry of Education in 2014 around 9000 children were enrolled in 460 kohanga reo, kindergarten schools where lessons were taught in te reo Māori.

Jess and Anton Matthews send their five-year-old daughter Te Ariā Aroha to Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi, a full-immersion school in Spreydon.

And Jess said she attempted to communicate solely in te reo when she was at the school.

'At home I use it as much as I can and when I take my daughter to school I try to only speak te reo. At work about 75 per cent of the staff speak te reo, so that helps.'

As well as giving her a huge insight into Māori culture, the 30-year-old said learning the language has improved her appreciation of New Zealand's wider heritage.

'I wanted to learn more for the sake of my family but I've enjoyed learning about the culture and heritage of New Zealand.

'There are a lot of misconceptions about the Māori language and culture. One of the things I like the most is the value that is placed on motherhood and the importance of the role. That's definitely something that the rest of society could learn. I also like the concept of manaakitanga and the need to offer hospitality to family members and guests.'

She said anyone interested in speaking te reo should try, regardless of how much they know.

'It's something anyone can learn. When you are first learning it's a good idea to practice the sounds to make sure you get those right. Also, making sure you hear as much of the language as you can, to get your ear accustomed to the sounds. There are programmes on Māori TV such as Funny Whare with Stacey Morrison which you can watch even if you don't speak te reo.

'A really important thing to remember when you are learning is that most people who speak te reo want you to give it a go, everyone will be very supportive.'