E 70 ngā hapori o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o te motu kei te whakakao atu ki runga o Kaiwhaiki Marae i Whanganui hei tēnei mutunga wiki, ki te whakanui i te 30 tau o Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.
I roto i ngā tau 30 nei kua hōrapa haere te kaupapa o Te Aho Matua ki ngā tōpito katoa o Aotearoa. Kei tōna 9000 tauira kei ngā kura 62, huri i te motu.
Hei tā Rāwiri Wright, heamana takirua o Te Rūnanga Nui, he tohu nui tērā o te hiakai a te iwi Māori ki tā ngā Kura Kaupapa e hora ana.
“Kua matomato haere ngā kura, kua mārama ake kei te tipu ake te hiahia o te ao Māori ki tētahi pūnaha mātauranga iwi taketake. Engari ko tōna mauri, ko tōna ihi, ko tōna wehi, ko tōna wairua, he Māori. Koia te tuatahi, hāunga noa hei kaupapa mātauranga, ko tōna ngākau tuatahi, he Māori.”
He raukura o Te Aho Matua a Raniera Proctor, hoematua o te Kohanga Reo. Hei tāna ko ia tētahi o ngā hua o taua hiahia nui.
“I pakeke mai ōku i te ao Pākehā engari ka mārama ki a rātou ehara pea tērā i te ara tika mo aku tamariki. Ka whakatūria he kura ki tō mātau kainga, ki tētahi hēti.”
Mai anō i te tau 1986 i te tuwheratanga mai o te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi i Tāmaki Makaurau, ā mohoa noa mai ki ki te whakarewatanga o Te Kura Kaupapa Kaupapa Māori o Te Papaonekura i tērā marama, kei te pakari tonu te kaupapa.
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Kei te whakanuia hoki rātou i ūpoko pakaru ki te whakarite i te kaupapa o Te Aho Matua i te tau 1987. Ko Kahurangi Te Heikōkō Mataira, ko Toni Waho, ko Tuki Nepe hoki. Ko rātou tokotoru kua mene atu ki te pō. Ko Tākuta Cathy Dewes, ko Tā Pita Sharples, ko Ahorangi Linda Tuhiwai Smith, ko Ahorangi Graham Hingangaroa Smith, ko Rahera Shortland, ko Pem Bird hoki i whai wāhi ki taua ohu.
“E tangi ana te ngākau. Mei kore ake ko ā rātou wānanganga roa, kua kore pea tēnei kaupapa e puta ki te whei ao, ki te ao mārama. Ka nui te mihi ki a rātou,” te kī a Wright.
Hei tā Wright tonu, ahakoa kei te pakari tonu te tipu o ngā Kura Kaupapa, kei te tiro whakamua tonu Te Rūnanga Nui ki ngā 30 tau e haere mai ana, me pakanga tonu e pakari ake anō te kaupapa.
“I whānau mai tēnei kaupapa i te tohe, i te tohe nui, i te tohe roa. E whakapono ana ka haere tonu te whawhai, e haere tonu te tohe kia kore tētahi Kāwanatanga e hōmai poka noa i tētahi mana motuhake, tino rangatiratanga rānei. Me ū tātou, me mataara tonu te iwi Māori, ā haere tonu.”