Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi. Photo: Supplied / Te Tai
The late Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi, who founded the kōhanga reo movement, is being praised for reviving te reo Māori and keeping the language alive.
The 95-year-old Māori educator died on Saturday surrounded by her whānau at home.
She was made a Dame Companion in 2009 for services to Māori education.
Tumu Whakahaere, Te Taura Whiri, Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr is Dame Iritana's nephew.
He said she worked all of her long life to help advance te ao Māori in every way possible.
Only 5 percent of tamariki Māori spoke te reo in the 1970s, but after the kōhanga reo movement was established, it helped to keep the language alive, he said.
"What happened with the kōhanga reo movement, by providing that education in the Māori language and early childhood education for Māori children, she essentially re-introduced te reo Māori back into the whānau dynamic. It had been going missing for a long time.
"An increasing number of Māori at university have come out of kura kaupapa Māori because kura kaupapa Māori, of all our types of compulsory schooling, has the highest pass rates in NCEA level 1, 2 and 3 and [university entrance]," Apanui-Barr said.
It was not only up to the Māori Language Commission but also the likes of Te Mangi Paho and Whakaata Māori to continue Dame Iritana's legacy, he said.
"We exist because of what she's done. She's given us an audience for what we do but also because New Zealand has one indigenous language, the first language of New Zealand was te reo Māori, and it's a language she fought hard to give back to Māori communities. But [it's also] one that the Māori Language Commission promotes as New Zealand's language. A language for all New Zealanders," Apanui-Barr said.
He wanted to see more investment in te reo Māori, after the number of kōhanga reo halved from 800 in the 1990s to about 400 now.
He said she would always encouraged young Māori to stand up for their rights and to stand against proposals like the Treaty Principles Bill.
"She would have been saying: 'you've got to fight, there is an issue here, our language is at stake, our development is at stake. There is a need to fight. But it's not a dirty fight, it's a fight that uses all the best parts of who we are as New Zealanders.'
"For a lot of us it has been a shock to hear rhetoric about using Māori names last for government departments, for government departments to use the language less, the Treaty Principles Bill, I think was a huge shock to everybody... and I think Aunty Iri would have said 'you guys need to fight this and give it your all, but you need to do it with manaakitanga and the good of the whole country in mind'."
Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, Tumu Whakahaere of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori. Photo: Ngahiwi Apanui Barr
The Kiingitanga also described the late Dame Iritana as a stalwart supporter of almost all kaupapa Māori, right until the very end.
Her death was a huge loss for te ao Māori but her legacy lived on through those who went through kōhanga reo, spokesperson Rahui Papa said.
"The beauty of Iritana was that she brought up so many of the younger leaders behind her so that the loss isn't really a stab in the heart, it's really a loss of the institutional knowledge that Iritana held."
She left a legacy of leadership, which she encouraged at all ages, behind, he said.
"She looked at her mokopuna right across the country in the kōhanga reo movement and now we're seeing the advent of politicians, we're seeing the advent of CEOs, we're seeing the iwi leadership falling to those who have come through the kōhanga reo movement, because the kōhanga reo movement was a whānau movement."
Papa said Dame Iritana had a wonderful relationship with the Kiingitanga, working with Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the late Kiingi Tūheitia, and Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po.
Dame Iritana played a part in the crowning of Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po, pictured. Photo: RNZ / Layla Bailey-McDowell
He remembered how she would travel the country with Te Atairangikaahu to different kōhanga reo, where she would play knucklebones with the tamariki, then have a cup of tea with the kāumatua and the kaiako.
She also played a part in the crowning of the current Māori Queen.
"Her role has been to nurture our kuīni, Nga wai hono i te po into the current role and so she was sort of like a mother korowai to Nga wai hono i te po when she took her role as a trustee of the kōhanga reo. That led to Iritana becoming one of the strongest supporters as part of the Tekau-mā-rua advisory group to Kiingi Tūheitia.
"Iritana was one of those ones that wasn't backwards about coming forward about her opinion and so that relationship with the Kiingitanga has just bloomed right to the current day."
Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber also expressed his sadness at the National Iwi Chairs Forum at Waitangi.
"I was with her just before Christmas, for Christmas dinner, I've served on the Māori Education Trust alongside Dame Iritana for the last 10 years. You wouldn't get a kuia so switched on to the issues of the day," Barber said.
"Ngāti Kahungunu is very saddened by her loss."
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