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Embracing te reo Māori through fun and play
Learning te reo Māori can be daunting for some, and the idea of memorising long lists of kupu and how to form sentence structures may even seem unreachable.
And that’s where Kura Rēhia co-founders, Rosie Remmerswaal and Kuruho Wereta, come in. They’re challenging that narrative with their board game, KAUPAPA.
“Our hope is that everyone in Aotearoa has more fun and positive ways to embrace te reo Māori and te ao Māori. For te reo Māori to be central to having fun together as whānau and as friends,” says Rosie.
Described as a board game for a bilingual Aotearoa, KAUPAPA uses both Māori and English kupu to help players expand their Māori vocabulary all while having ‘hysterical fun’.
The game was the brainchild of Rosie and Kuruho, who while flatting together wanted more ways to experience play and te reo Māori all in one, and that’s when KAUPAPA was born.
“At first it was just something that we made for ourselves, to play with our whānau, friends and reo classes. It evolved organically because when we played it, we felt interest and energy from those who played with us. We soon realised we needed to do this properly and not just share it with our friends, but with Aotearoa,” says Rosie.
The game is designed for players no matter what their level of Māori language may be, beginners can use it to learn new words, and fluent speakers can create a fast-paced, playful Māori language immersion environment.
“No matter what the make-up of your group is, you can play together - for example, if you have three fluent speakers and three beginners in your group, you can make it challenging for each of you using the three levels of play. While developing it with the community, we discovered how inclusive the game can be,” says Rosie.
By embracing te ao Māori and learning te reo, Rosie believes we can better understand indigenous perspectives and how they can transform the way we connect with people and the world around us.
Since the game was released in May 2021, Rosie and Kuruho have received tonnes of positive feedback from schools and whānau alike who have used the game as both a learning resource and a way to create positive, playful and fun connections with te reo Māori.
“For me, one of the most beautiful things is the energy that’s generated when we play together. It’s so powerful and it can be really connecting and healing. There’s something so pure about it,” says Rosie.
Rosie and the Kura Rēhia team are currently working on an expansion pack for KAUPAPA that will be released before the end of the year, but in the meantime, they hope to see more people embrace and learn te reo Māori through play.
“Looking ahead, we hope that KAUPAPA can be a companion to your reo learning journey as an individual, a whānau, school or hapori . Every time is different, and every time is fun. It can keep evolving and keep bringing something new and fresh.”
Kauawhitia te reo Māori mā te ngahau me te tākaro
Mō ētahi he mea mataku te reo Māori, ā, ko te whakaaro mō te maumahara ki ngā tini kupu me ngā tini whakatakotoranga o te rerenga kōrero, he mea kei tawhiti pāmamao.
Nā konei kuhu mai ai a Rosie Remmerswaal rāua ko Kuruho Wereta, ngā kaiwhakaara o Kura Rēhia. E rongoā ana rāua i tēnei āhuatanga me tā rātou kēmu panga a KAUPAPA.
“Ko te tūmanako ia kia whai wāhi mai a Aotearoa whānui ki ētahi whiringa e māmā ai, e pārekareka ai te kuhu ki te reo me te ao Māori. Me noho te reo Māori hei kaupapa pārekareka i waenganui i te whānau me ngā hoa,” te kī a Rosie.
E kīia nei a KAUPAPA, he kēmu mā Aotearoa reorua, e whakamahi nei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā hei whakawhānui ake i te puna kupu i roto i te ‘wairua pukuhohe’.
I toko ake te whakaaro mō te kēmu nei i a Rosie rāua ko Kuhoro e noho tahi ana, ka ara ake te hiahia ki te whai wāhi atu ki tētahi wheako e ako ai i te reo Māori i te wā o te ngahau me te takaro, ā, ka whānau mai ko KAUPAPA.
“I te tīmatanga he mea hanga noa hei tākaro mā māua ko ō māua whānau, ō māua hoa me ō māua akomanga reo Māori. I a māua e tākaro ana ka kite māua i te manawa reka me te hihiri o ngā tāngata i tākaro tahi ai ki a māua, ā, ka tipu haere te kaupapa nei. Nā konā toko ake ai te whakaaro kia whakaara ōkawatia te kēmu nei kia whai wāhi mai ai a Aotearoa whānui,” te kī a Rosie”.
He mea hanga te kēmu nei kia whai wāhi mai ai te kaitākaro ahakoa te taumata o tōna reo Māori. He mea whakaako kupu hou ki te tauhou, ā, ka taea e te kaikōrero matatau ki te whakatere ake i te kēmu ka noho rūmaki ai i roto i tētahi horopaki ngahau.
“Ahakoa ngā pūkenga rerekē o ngā kaitākaro, ka taea tonu te tākaro ngātahi – hei tauira, ka āhei te whakahāngai i te taumata o te kaitākaro ki tētahi o ngā taumata e toru o te kēmu e wero tonu ai te kaitākaro. I a mātou e waihanga ngātahi ana i te kēmu me te hapori, i kite māua te whai wāhitanga mai o ngā taumata reo katoa,” te kī a Rosie.
Mā te kauawhi i te ao Māori me te reo, e whakapono ana a Rosie he huarahi e mārama ai tātou ki ngā tirohanga o ngā iwi taketake e huri ai ō tātou whakaaro ki tēnei mea, ki te tūhonohono tētahi ki tētahi me te ao e noho nei tātou.
Mai i tōna whakarewatanga i te marama o Mei 2021, kua huhua te rere mai o ngā mihi mai i ngā kura me ngā whānau anō hoki e whakamahi nei i te kēmu hei rauemi ako, hei huarahi e whai wāhi ai ki te reo Māori mā te tākaro me te ngahau.
“Mōku ake, ko tētahi mea nui katoa ko te hihiri nui e ara ake ana i te tākaro ngātahi. He mea hirahira nui, he mea whakaora i te ngākau. He orange wairua tōna”, te kī a Rosie.
I tēnei wā e mahi tahi ana a Rosie rātou ko te rōpu o Kura Rēhia ki te whakawhānui i te panga kāri o KAUPAPA kia tukuna i mua i te mutunga o tēnei tau, engari i tēnei wā, e tūmanako ana rātou kia nui ake te kauawhitia o te ako i te reo Māori mā te tākaro.
“Ko te anga whakamua, ko te tūmanako kia noho a KAUPAPA hei hoa haere mō te tangata e ako ana i te reo ā-takitahi nei, ā-whānau nei, ā-kura nei, ā hapori nei rānei. He rerekē i ia tākarotanga, he pārekareka i ia tākarotanga. He mea ora tōna pitomata ki te whakaara i tētahi āhuatanga hou i ia tākarotanga.”
Read the article on the Mahuru Māori website in English and te reo Māori
