January 23, 2024
Mistranslation clouding treaty message
A te reo Māori scholar says Saturday’s hui aa motu at Turangawaewae identified mistranslation as a source of confusion around Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Pānia Papa says speakers like Annette Sykes and Tina Porou spelt out how politicians were using mistranslation to blur the meaning of te tiriti.
Kīngi Tūheitia’s was there to put it in a Māori context.
“It’s very clear what the Tiriti is and what it provides for Māori. It’s protection of taonga, protection of property, the right to be and live as Māori and that’s what we determine, how we determine that. So that’s really the tino rangatiratanga space, the mana motuhake space and those messages are quite clear in both te tiriti and the treaty,” Ms Papa says
She says a lot of tauiwi children are learning te reo Māori now as their parents see how important it is for cultural context and pride for their own culture and languages.