Te Ringa Mangu Dun Mihaka
Nō ngā tau 1970 ki 1980, i tino rongonui a Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka he kaitiaki manawa toa mō ngā mōtika o te Māori, he tangata kaha ki te wero i ngā ratonga, Māori, Pākehā hoki me ā rātou whakahaere. I hāmenetia ia ki tētahi hara, nā, i tohe ia kia āhei tōna kōrero i tōna reo rangatira ki te Kōti ā-Rohe.
Kīhai i whakaaetia, ka pīra ki te Kōti Teitei, ki te Kōti Pīra, nāna tonu ia i kawe, ko te tūāpapa o tōna kerēme ko te Tiriti o Waitangi. I whakahaerehia te kōti i raro i te kēhi kua mōhiotia ināianei ko Mihaka v Police [1980], hei tā te Kōti Pīra, “i huatau, i hūmārire te tautohe a te kaipīra, mō ōna mōtika hei Māori o Aotearoa e āhei ai ia ki te tono kia Māori te reo o tēnei kōti. Ko te kōrero o te reo Māori i Aotearoa he take motuhake mā Aotearoa whānui, engari ehara i te mea he kaupapa ture i ēnei āhuatanga mō tēnei kēhi. I kōrerohia te Tiriti o Waitangi, engari kāre tonu e hāngai ana ki ngā kaupapa ture e tohe nei tātou...’
Mō te taha ki te kerēme reo Māori, nā te Rōpū Whakamana i whakatau kāore te Tiriti e hāngai ana ki ngā mōtika i te kōti. Hēoi, ko te whakapae a Mihaka ki te Rōpū Whakamana e tohe kē ana ia mō tōna mana mōtika ki te kōrero Māori, ehara i te mea he kūare ia ki te kōrero Pākehā – he matatau tonu ia ki te reo Pākehā.
Ko tā Mihaka, nā tāna tohe ‘i whati i te tuarā o te kāmera’ mā te whakahoki i te reo ki tōna tūranga whai mana.
I te tau 1989, i tuhia e ia te pukapuka Ki te Whei Ao, Ki te Ao Mārama, he pukapuka kei te kōrero, kei te whakamahara hoki i ōna ake wheako mō te tangihanga. E wero ana tēnei pukapuka i ētahi o ngā tikanga Māori, nā whai anō ia i tapa i te kupu ‘tama-ngakau-mārie-tanga’ mō tikanga whakapongi.
I tū tahanga a Mihaka ki te wero i te pūnaha ture me tō rātou kaupare atu i te Tiriti me ngā mōtika reo taketake. Me i kore ia e manawanui ki te wero i te kanohi o te kāwana reotahi, ka tino rerekē rawa atu te hītori o te whakarauora reo Māori. Kua kapohia ngā mahi a Mihaka ki ngā pukapuka hitori ā-ture o te motu hei whakamaumaharatanga i ngā wā ka whakakōrerotia te whawhai mō te reo Māori.