Three students entered the regional Ngā Manu Korero competition last week and all three achieved outstanding results with Xanthe Banks and Ruihia Pemberton both heading to the nationals.

Year 12 student Xanthe Banks won first place in the Senior Māori 'Prepared Section' and first place in the Senior Māori 'Impromptu Section.' She was named 1st Senior Māori Overall and has qualified for the national final for the third year running. 

Xanthe's prepared speech, which she will repeat at the nationals, was entitled "Ma wai e tohu, he mātanga reo Māori koe?" which is "Who is to say that you are a mātanga reo?" Meaning, who has the right to be honoured as a 'master of' or 'all knowing one' with regards to all things pertaining to te reo and tikanga Māori. In other words, who gets to decide that a person knows more than someone else. 

To explore and present her chosen topic, Xanthe covered three sections. In the first section she talked about how the mātanga could be someone who works on the marae but in actual fact, it could be someone else. She noted that in some cases, those currently involved at the marae could have grown up in a generation where they were punished for speaking te reo Māori.

In her second section, Xanthe dug deeper into 'what is a mātanga' and how they could be described, looking into various definitions. Xanthe noted that the word 'mātanga' is a recent addition to the Māori language, rather than being a word that has existed for many generations. The words 'tōhunga' and 'rangatira' have a long history and both point to honour that is received or identified towards a person from birth or by birth.

Tōhunga 

(noun) skilled person, chosen expert, priest, healer - a person chosen by the agent of an atua and the tribe as a leader in a particular field because of signs indicating talent for a particular vocation. (Te Aka Māori Dictionary)

Rangatira

(noun) chief (male or female), chieftain, chieftainess, master, mistress, boss, supervisor, employer, landlord, owner, proprietor...(Te Aka Māori Dictionary)

Mātanga

(noun) experienced person, expert, specialist, consultant, professional, practitioner, old hand, analyst. (Te Aka Māori Dictionary)

Mātanga creates room for people to be esteemed, acknowledged and honoured for what they bring, regardless of their birth or ancestry.

Xanthe explained, "It's a word that has been made [for] people who aren't mātanga from birth, people that haven't grown up in Te Āo Māori, but have it now and are 'up there,' or people who aren't even Māori. They made this role so tōhunga and rangatira aren't used in the wrong context and it's not belittling that position just because other people aren't by birth." 

"It's a place for people that may not have grown up in Te Āo Māori but have that knowledge now," she said. 

When asked what the main point was that she wanted to get across to her audience, Xanthe explained her third section, "That we're lacking it in Te Tau Ihu."

"I called on Te Tau Ihu and said, 'We're lacking it.' We're doing good in business environments but we don't have much in the reo aspect and the tikanga aspect, and that we need it more in Te Tau Ihu because our kids aren't getting it and there aren't those spaces to grow and there aren't any role models for the next generation." 

Xanthe noted that most of the people who have that knowledge locally, may not have grown up in Te Tau Ihu even if they whakapapa here, or they have often come from the North Island. She put a challenge out to the boards and trustees in Te Tau Ihu to learn and grow in their knowledge and understanding to create a good space for the younger generation coming through. 

When asked how she felt about her results, Xanthe said she feels "pretty good."

"I was quite happy with them," she said, "And I'm really excited to actually speak in person this year because it's always been over zoom every single time I've gone to the nationals."

After two years of covid restrictions, the Ngā Manu Korero national finals will be held in Dunedin in September. Year 11 student Ruihia Pemberton will also be joining Xanthe. 

When asked about her topic, Ruihia explained, "It was mainly talking about my history, and then my ancestor's history, so what they had to go through to just be Māori in general."

Ruihia says for her, the speech wasn't anything particularly different, as she says she has always been unapologetically Māori and unapologetically herself. "I'm not going to apologise for being me," she said.

Her impromptu speech was about a taonga; a pounamu. 

"I talked about what a taonga could represent and how people could see it," Ruihia explained. 

"And then I talked about how I see it and how you can't just look at something and assume one thing. There's going to be a different story, especially around Māori things, because there's always different meanings to little things," she said.

Ruihia won second place for her impromptu speech and it was her combined scores that saw her place first overall for Senior English, qualifying her to attend the national finals. 

Ruihia "felt great" about her results. "I was really happy with them," she said. 

While she is a little nervous about competing at the nationals, Ruihia is really looking forward to the opportunity. "It's going to be a great experience, so I'm excited," she said.

Year 9 student Tatiana Staples also entered the Ngā Manu Korero competition for the first time ever and placed second overall Junior English. It was a fantastic result for the 14 year old, competing against students from all over Te Tau Ihu in the competition. 

With all three students gaining such outstanding results, Te Kāreti o Neirana (Nayland College), was named "Best Overall Kura" at the regional competition. A massive congratulations to Xanthe, Ruihia and Tatiana, and a huge thank you to the kaiako and whānau who supported them. 

Best of luck to Xanthe and Ruihia who are preparing for the national finals in September.