Māori Radio - Episode One The Kaupapa

Justine Murray explores the history of Māori radio in the four-part series Aotearoa On Air.

In episode one, we hear about the pioneering radio station Te Upoko o Te Ika, which played an integral role in promoting and preserving te reo Māori.

*The interviews featured in this series convey the personal views and experiences of each individual.

Justine Murray: I first came to know about Māori radio as a teenager growing up in Rotorua. It was the 1990s and I thought being a radio announcer was one of those ‘cool’ jobs.

My friends and I would often phone in and ask for requests or dedications, knowing that each of us was listening in.

As a child, I remember the radio being on as background noise when mum was cooking or in the garage when dad was tinkering away.

I began my career in Māori radio at Moana AM 1440kHz in 1998 as a news reporter and worked my way up to being the Programme Director of a (now defunct) Hip Hop and RnB station Tahi FM.

I hosted the "Morning Vibe" breakfast show from 2003 and we launched to much fanfare.

Drawing on my ten years in Māori radio,  this series weaves together my own experiences alongside interviews with those who were there in the formative years and at the front line today.

From the early 1940s, sitting round the wireless was an important time in many Māori households as their sons went off overseas on an ‘adventure’, having enlisted to serve overseas in the second world war. The messages beamed back home from the Māori Battalion undoubtedly stirred the emotions.

Sarah Johnston is familiar with the recorded messages from the Māori Battalion. As a former archivist with Ngā Tāonga Sound and Vision, her research continues into the recordings of the New Zealand National Broadcasting Service Mobile units between 1940 – 1945.

“I’m really interested in knowing how those messages were heard back in New Zealand… from a Māori perspective, I think it’s really interesting... The first messages recorded by the unit started to come home really around Christmas 1940…I’ve come across letters to the editor of the newspapers and The Listener magazine from Māori saying 'where’s the Māori Battalion? we want to hear more from them'."

Radio New Zealand, through the unit Te Reo o Aotearoa, produced legacy programmes with Wiremu Parker, Bill Kerekere   Haare Williams, Whai Ngata, Henare Te Ua Hemana Waaka, Piripi Walker and Leo Fowler. Many of these recordings are accessible online.

From the early 1980s, Nga Kaiwhakapumau i Te Reo Māori (The Wellington Māori Language Board) argued that the Crown was not doing enough to support the Māori language.

Former Manager of Te Upoko o Te Ika radio station Piripi Walker remembers a hui held in 1983 when two motions were put to the floor.

“I timata I tētahi pō I te tau 83 o tera rau tau marama o Aperira, I hui te roopu o Nga Kaiwhakapumau i i te reo.  I taua po e rua nga whakatau i motiningia i te hui, te motini tuatahi kia kawea he kereme ki te roopu whakamana I te Tiriti o Waitangi mo te reo Māori , te motini tuarua ki te whakaturia he teihana mo te wiki o te reo Māori mo te waa tino poto i taua tau ano” - E ai ki a Piripi.

The first motion was to lodge a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal to promote, protect and preserve te reo Māori and the second was to start up a radio station for a short time during Māori Language Week.

The claim was lodged in 1984 and in 1985 the Māori Language Claim hearings began at Waiwhetu Marae.  Leading the charge was the late Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru, in an archival recording from 1983 he explained the purpose of the claim with Carol Greensmith.

“The basis of the claim to the Waitangi Tribunal is to give recognition to the Māori language within the laws of the land…first and foremost is to have it recognised so that it does have equal status with English language”  - Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru (1983)

In the mid-1980s, the government was shifting the broadcast industry towards centralization and supported a tender process for FM and AM frequencies. 

The New Zealand Māori Council disagreed with this and again lodged a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal and argued for radio spectrum.

In 1990, the Tribunal gave recommendations to halt the tender process, to make funds available to reimburse claimants and to allocate FM frequencies for Māori broadcasting in Auckland and Wellington.

There was resistance from the State and the New Zealand Māori Council took their case to the High Court.

The High Court agreed that the Crown needed to do more to protect the future of the Māori language.

Subsequently, from the early 1990s on, licenses were granted for a period of twenty years with the condition that Māori radio stations had to be run by local tribal organisations and the frequencies had to promote te reo Māori me ōna tikanga (The Māori Language and its Customs).

Several years before the radio spectrum case, in 1983, Te Reo o Pōneke had already taken flight on the local radio scene albeit for short stints. 

The small team took over the radio facilities at Victoria University when the students were on holiday and Piripi Walker recalls asking the students of Herenga Waka and kaumatua of Nga Kaiwhakapumau i te reo Māori to help with the on-air broadcast.

The first stint as Te Reo o Poneke was five days but eventually, financial support was needed so there were bouts of fundraising, including a Radiothon and bingo games hosted by local marae in Awakairangi.

Sir Tamati Reedy suggested a new name of Te Upoko o Te Ika and in April 1988 it became a permanent radio station.  

In 2017 the station celebrated 30 years on the airwaves. 

In 2018 however the station’s funding was cut over licensing issues with local iwi Te Ati Awa and Ngāti Toa, but a meeting three years ago seemingly resolved the issue.

Ngahiwi Apanui remembers his student days in the 1980s soaking up the wisdom from the likes of his mentor Whatarangi Winiata.

“Being around Whata and around Huirangi was really interesting because these guys had the unshakeable belief that te reo Māori was the best language in the world and that everyone would be better if they spoke it and it wasn’t arrogant it was a humble belief in our language,” he says.

The Māori language is part and parcel of Ngahiwi Apanui's role as CEO of Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, but back in 1992 he was the station manager of Radio Ngāti Pōrou and not everyone liked what heard.

“We had our share of abusive answer phone messages every Monday morning…it was like ‘turn that crap off’...people would say...why are you speaking Māori it’s a waste of time…none of us [staff] wanted to clear the answerphone on a Monday so we took turns…what’s changed big time up on the East Coast is the advent of kura kaupapa,” he says.

When asked about on-air antics, Ngahiwi can think of an incident during a popular kids segment Te Koko Tamariki –Kiddie Corner which encouraged children to call in and tell a joke on-air, there was an 8-second delay button,  but during one call the female announcer forgot to activate it.

“This person rings up in a slightly dodgy voice and she says kia ora darling… ko wai tō ingoa? And this person says Piiki and she says Piiki wai? And the voice says *Piiki Pooro – unfortunately, the 'piiki pooro' wasn't the sacking offence but it was because she forget to put the delay button on.”

Then there was the request line.

“These kids used to ring up and they say 'aahh, kia ora uncle, can I have 'I Wanna Sex You Up' for Mereana from Waipiro Bay?' and I’d say 'how old are you?' and they’d say 'eight' and I’d say 'no you’re not getting that song', he says.

*Piiki Pooro - Big Balls.