When they’re not playing on the field, a group of Blues players are getting together to learn te reo Māori.
The classes are held over an eight-week period, and while the group have barely started, injured Blues fullback Zarn Sullivan says he wants to learn as much as possible and to know a little bit more about where he’s from.
“To be able to learn a mihimihi would be bloody awesome, and if I get interviewed, I would love to pull it out and express my reo in that kind of way.”
But there’s more to it than that for Sullivan.
When they were asked to share why it was important for them to learn te reo he said: “My answer to that was feeling a little bit embarrassed [that] my younger sister — the youngest out of all of us — knows more te reo than us, than the older three of us [siblings].”
“So it’s just me trying to pick it up, learn a little bit more and just kind of take that guilt away from being one of the older ones and not really knowing my reo,” he said.
Around 10 players attend the introductory course taught by Toiroa Williams and Te Rerekohu Tuterangiwhiu. The two tutors say the challenge lies in leaving an impression on the players — given the short amount of time — and to help them retain information, so they have turned to teaching well-known Māori songs, like E Papa Waiari and Te Hokowhitu a Tū.
“He mea whakarekareka, whakarawerawe ki te reo, nō reira me whakairohia ki te hinengaro mā te waiata, mā te korikori, mā te whakakata (The key is to make the lessons fun and exciting. We want the language to be etched into their minds, so we use waiata, and movement, and humour),” Tuterangiwhiu said.
“Ko te mea hoki kia rongo i nga rerenga, i ngā rerenga kōrero tika, i ngā rerenga kōrero māmā, erangi, he hohonu tonu te māmā (They need to hear sentences, correct sentences, through simple phrases, although there’s a lot of depth to simple phrases).
“Ka ngoto ki te hinengaro, ka pau te waru wiki, ka mau tonu ki te hinengaro, koirā te mea nui (The brain absorbs the lesson, and come the end of eight weeks, it’s committed to memory – that’s the main thing),” he said.
Sullivan said the approach works for them because it’s not just about sitting down to learn, but they’re having fun along the way.
“We’re all enjoying it, we tend to come in, and the two tutors we have, [they] are a bloody crack up!”
For the two tutors, the goal at the end of the course is to ignite the players’ passion for their culture and language, and to steer them in the right direction to learn more.
“Ko te reo te huarahi ki te ao Māori, te huarahi anō hoki ki te wā kāinga. Me pērā anō hoki te kōrero, ko ngā kongakonga reo nei kia kauahia te ahi, kia hoki rātou ki te wā kāinga, ki reira whakamātau ai i tō rātou ake mana motuhake (The language is the road that leads to te ao Māori, it also leads to home. It’s like this: using what they learn here to ignite a fire within to call them home where they can exercise their mana motuhake),” Tuterangiwhiu said.
Williams agrees: “Kauahia te ahi kā i tawhiti hei ahi kā mai tawhiti (Stoke the living fire from home so that it ignites a living fire within).”
Brooke Kapa, personal development manager for the Blues, said the classes came about after she shared her personal journey of learning te reo through the one-year full immersion programme at Te Wānanga Takiura, “it galvanised a few of the men to come to me and want the same”.
She organised the course as an introduction and to provide a chance for the men to feel connected to each other as a team, and to their culture.
“I believe the more you know yourself, the more you know where you come from, who you come from and so equipped with your reo, you walk with mana, on and off the field.”
Sullivan said learning more about his reo and culture means he can carry it wherever he goes, but when asked if he had considered full immersion classes in the future, he’s pragmatic.
“I know it takes a while to actually fully immerse yourself into that path, so with the time we have, probably not. Not at the moment.
“But no doubt I’ll probably think about it later on after the career — that’s probably a while away — but I’d love to teach my tamariki the reo and where we’re from and know who they are.”
Glossary
mihimihi – greeting, to greet, speech
waiata – songs, sing
mana motuhake – autonomy, self-determination
mana – prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status
tamariki – children