‘Give te reo Māori a go’

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz moved to Tairāwhiti from South Africa over 20 years ago and during that time here she has been on a journey of learning te reo Māori. As part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, kaupapa Māori reporter Matai O’Connor caught up with her . . .

Over the past 10 years, Rehette Stoltz, 47, has been learning te reo Māori which she says has opened up a whole new world.

The journey all started when she decided to join Gisborne District Council’s waiata group after being intrigued by the beautiful waiata and wanting to learn the meaning behind the words.

“Learning through singing is fun,” she said.

This motivated her to get a deeper understanding of te ao Māori (the Māori world) and she decided to enrol in a year-long tikanga course at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

“It was a fun year of learning and getting an inside look into tikanga, te reo and making great friends with similar interests.”

After the tikanga course, Rehette and a friend started working their way through the Scotty Morrison books that help teach people te reo Māori.

“It took a lot of focus and dedication to prepare for our weekly sessions, but we met up on Tuesdays over lunch to discuss our learning of the week.

“I keep those books in my office and every now and then I take a look to refresh my memory.”

She also attends classes with Papa Taina Ngarimu, a local te reo Māori advocate and well-known teacher.

“He helps with the basics and tries to grow our confidence with speaking and pronunciation.”

She is enjoying learning the language.

“It is a very slow journey and I am learning every single day.

“This year I am focusing on building my basic vocabulary. Reading children’s books help a lot.

“I am lucky that I regularly hear te reo around me and I actively try to learn as much as I can on the go.

“People are wanting to help guide you on your journey,” she said.

“Nearly every person I ask for help or advice in regard to my learning is happy to help out. There are so many resources available on the internet

too.”

Rehette has whakapapa back to Holland. Her whānau migrated from there to the Cape Province of South Africa in the late 1700s.

Her father is the youngest of seven children and her mum is the eldest of five.

“I am lucky to come from a huge family with lots of nephews and nieces.”

She is the third child out of four, with two brothers and a sister.

Her eldest brother, Henri, passed away in 2001 and her other brother, Alfie, lives close to her mum and dad on the Garden Route on the East Coast of South Africa.

Her sister, Helène, moved to Gisborne in 2020.

“I am blessed to have whānau close to me after having no one here for nearly 20 years.”

She is married to Deon. They have two boys — Alexander and Luk Henri, who were both born here.

Along with learning te reo Māori, Rehette already speaks two languages — English and Afrikaans.

And during her intermediate school years she was taught some basic Xhosa — but only remembers a few words.

Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

She has noticed some kupu Māori are pronounced in a similar way as they would be pronounced in Afrikaans — which helps a lot, she says.

Rehette has found the waiata and different kupu Māori relatively easy to learn as it’s a process of practise, practise, practise.

“Learning, understanding and respecting the meaning behind the words and processes is more complex.”

She admits that this year has been consumed with cyclone recovery mahi, so said she has “severely neglected my te reo learning, so I feel quite rusty and not too confident when I do a mihi or my pepeha, but it’s time to get back on track”.

Learning te reo Māori is a journey. It can take years, but it is always there waiting to be used.

People born outside New Zealand without Māori whakapapa are known as tauiwi in te reo Māori. It is not unusual for immigrants to learn te reo and Rehette encourages everyone to “give it a go”.

“It will grow your love and understanding of one of the most interesting and beautiful cultures in the world,” she said.

“Once you move past the basics and your understanding grows, a whole new world opens up to you.

“Whaia te matauranga hei oranga mo koutou. If you follow the path of learning —the world will be your oyster.”