In 1990, as Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh looked on the Bishop of Aotearoa Reverend Whakahuihui Vercoe (Ngaitai, Ngāi Tuhoe, Te Arawa and Whakatōhea.) delivered a stirring address.
The Whakamāori team have a go at translating it into the language he so ardently defended.
It was the 150th celebrations of the signing of the treaty of Waitangi, when Bishop Vercoe went off script and spoke directly the Her Majesty about honouring the treaty.
An excerpt from his address is available on the Te Ara website.
Listen free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts or any good podcast app.
TRANSLATIONS - printable version here
Nā Anaha Hiini
English
“One hundred and fifty years ago, a compact was signed, a covenant was made between two people. But since the signing of that treaty, our partners have marginalised us. You have not honoured the treaty. Since 1840, the partner that has been marginalised is me. The language of this land is yours, the custom is yours, the media by which we tell the world who we are, are yours.”
Whakamāori
I te kotahi rau, e rima tekau tau ki muri, he mea waitohu tētehi kirimana e ngā iwi e rua... Heoi, i te waitohunga o taua kirimana rā... ko tātau tēnei i whakatahangia. Kāore koe i whakanui i te tiriti... Mai i te tau 1840, tatū iho nei ki tēnei rā, ko ahau taua hoa tiriti i whakatahangia.
Nā Chey Milne
English
“What I have come here for is to renew the ties that made us a nation in 1840. I don’t want to debate the treaty; I don’t want to renegotiate the treaty.
I want the treaty to stand firmly as the unity, the means by which we are made one nation.
The treaty is what we are celebrating. It is what we are trying to establish, so that my tino rangatiratanga is the same as your tino rangatiratanga.”
Whakamāori
Ko te take I tae mai ai au, ko te whakapūmau I ngā taura here I Kotahi ai tātou I te 1840. Kāore au I tae mai ki te tohe ki te tiriti, ki te whakahhou raini i te tiriti.
E hiahia ana kia noho te tiriti hei papa, e Kotahi ai tātou.
Ko te tiriti te kaupapa e whakatairangahia ana e tātou. Anei e ngana nei ki te whakapou I tōnā mana, kia rite te taumata o tōku tino rangatiratanga ki tōu tino rangatiratanga.
Nā Ani-Piki Tuari
English
“And so, I have come to Waitangi to cry for the promises that you made and for the expectations our tupuna (had) 150 years ago. And so, I conclude, as I remember the songs of our land, as I remember the history of our land, I weep here on the shores of the Bay of Islands. May God give us the courage to be honest with one another, to be sincere with one another and above all to love one another in the strength of God.”
Whakamāori
Kua tae mai au ki Waitangi kia tangihia ngā oati nāu anō i whiu, ka tangihia ngā whakapono o ō tāua tīpuna tōna 150 tau ki muri.
Kāti au i konei, i a au ka mahara ki ngā waiata o tō tātoa whenua, i a au ka mahara ki ngā kōrero tuku iho o tō tātou whenua. Ka tangi au i konei, i ngā tāhuna (te ākau) o Pewhairangi. Mā te Atua tātou e whakamanawanui kia pono tātou ki a tātou anō, kia manawanui tātou ki a tātou anō, ka mutu, kia aroha tātou ki a tātou anō i roto i te mana o te Atua.
- Rev. Whakahuihui Vercoe, Waitangi - February 6, 1990
Made for RNZ by Arataua
