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Te Imi o Hokotehi  Moriori,

e kui ma, e koro ma,

Rangata Matua,

timiriki ma,

tena kotou, tena kotou,

hokomenetai,

me rongo.

Thank you for that introduction, Rangimoana.  I acknowledge Mana Cracknell, whose karakii has connected us with the heritage we honour today.

The presence of the Prime Minister underlines the importance of today's event to the Crown, and I want to endorse her comments and welcome also the presence of my ministerial and parliamentary colleagues.

It is a privilege also to be here with members and past members of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, Kai Tahu, Te Papa officials and whanau.

And a special acknowledgment to those watching on a video-link from the Kopinga marae, on Rekohu.

There will be two particularly significant actions taken here today.  The first will be me signing of the Crown's Deed of Gift to the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, which is to be accepted byShirley King. 

The second significant action is that Shirley King will sign the documents transferring this gift to Te Keke Tura Moriori Identity Trust, whose launch we are also celebrating here today.   

Many Ministers have supported this proposal as it has developed, and it is an honour that as the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, it has fallen to me to represent the Crown here today to sign the Deed of Gift.

Our gathering today, in Wellington, and in Rekohu, is historic. 

What happens here today does not change the past.  But what happens here today changes the future - for all New Zealanders - but especially for Moriori.

Moriori face a daunting reality.  The Moriori language is no longer spoken as a mother tongue.  Moriori traditions, art, literature and ways of thinking have been lost to virtually all the living generation.  The propagation of myths about who the Moriori are, and were, is thought to have led some to hide their ancestry, depriving descendants of this knowledge.  The Moriori economic base is extremely limited, and Moriori themselves are now based in all the islands of New Zealand, as well as Rekohu, their traditional home, and around the world.

We are not here today to recall the events that gave rise to this situation.  Those events are painful beyond measure, and are known to us all.

But it is appropriate today to recall our ancestors, and especially the karapuna Moriori.  It is our respect for them, and their achievements, which brings us together. 

It is also appropriate that we meet here in Te Papa Tongarewa, which honours and celebrates Moriori achievement. 

It is to this building that the remains of Moriori ancestors have been repatriated from around the world.  Here, the remains are accorded the respect that forms part of the common values of all New Zealanders. Their presence adds greatly to the significance of our meeting. 

Te Papa is also a showcase for Moriori arts and technology of the past.  These provide inspiration for Moriori, and for us all.

The Moriori community has sought funding from government for a Trust to restore and promote key aspects of Moriori identity, culture, language and heritage, including the Moriori history and legacy of peace. 

The government has readily accepted that these aims will benefit all New Zealanders and that they contribute to our national identity.

We also accept that these aims represent big challenges.  Culture and language, once damaged, are difficult to restore.  

This problem is well known world-wide, and in our region.  UNESCO estimates that another of the world's six thousand languages disappears every two weeks.

The Moriori language, Te Re Moriori, is the first and only language indigenous to New Zealand that has ceased to be spoken. 

As we all know, the Māori language is still fighting to become, again, an everyday language throughout the country.  But it is still far from the state of its closest relation, the Moriori language.

UNESCO puts the issue clearly: "Each and every language embodies the unique cultural wisdom of a people. The loss of any language is thus a loss for all humanity.

"The extinction of each language results in the irrecoverable loss of unique cultural, historical and ecological knowledge.  Each language is a unique expression of the human experience of the world ...

"Every time a language dies, we have less evidence for understanding patterns in the structure and function of human language, human prehistory and the maintenance of the world's diverse ecosystems.  Above all, speakers of these languages may experience the loss of their language as a loss of their original ethnic and cultural identity".

It will be a long time before the Moriori language is revived as a living language, but enough language remains for oral traditions, expressions, proverbs, prayers, chants, songs, and the language of greeting rituals to be developed and enhanced.

The emphasis given to language in relation to other cultural priorities such as the gathering of history, the linking of families and the development of modern Moriori activities of all types is a matter for Moriori themselves.

Ministers who have looked at this issue have been aware of the support given by government through the education system, and otherwise, to the English language and culture, to the languages of other communities and to Māori language and culture. 

It is not appropriate to see these issues in terms of a competition, but it is reasonable for New Zealanders to expect that all our indigenous cultures have opportunities to preserve what is handed down from the ancestors, and to develop the richness of their cultures for future generations.

In today's event, there is an element of developing New Zealand's identity as a whole. 

By recognising Moriori and the importance of their history, we round off the spine-tingling story of the initial discovery and populating of the Pacific. 

This story has elements of evidence-based historical fact, myth and inspiration.  It also contains transcendent values of courage, perseverance, adventure and adaptability. 

The first chapter begins somewhere in the spiritual realm of Hawaiki, and the physical realm of Western Polynesia.  The final chapter is written in the physical and spiritual reality of Rekohu, the Chatham Islands, where Polynesian voyagers reached the final islands they would people.

There, amazing things happened.  A new language was born, traditions were adapted, conservation and sustainable population policies were put in place.

Perhaps most significantly, a philosophy of peace, and the bloodless resolution of disputes arose.  This heritage of peace is a specific aim of the Trust being established here today, and links an ancient New Zealand belief and practice to our most modern, urgent, and pressing concerns. 

I believe that in years to come, New Zealand's preoccupation with peace will continue, and be linked in our minds with the founder of the Moriori heritage of peace, Nunuku-whenua.

The objectives of the Trust centre on education and raising awareness of Moriori identity, culture, language and heritage, so these are understood and valued by all New Zealanders as part of our history and society. 

Today I am able to confirm the government's intention to make a gift of six million dollars to the Trust to help achieve these objectives.  The Deed of Gift will be signed before you very soon.

This is an action separate from the historical Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. The Crown and the Hokotehi Moriori Trust are negotiating a settlement to resolve Moriori grievances about past Crown actions.  The Crown will acknowledge and take responsibility in that process for its historical Treaty breaches in relation to the Moriori people.

This gift is different.  It recognises a proven, present need, and our responsibility to future generations.

It is expected that the gift will allow the Trust to generate ongoing income to promote its objectives.  Funding will help to ensure Moriori identity, culture, language and heritage is understood by all New Zealanders, and valued as a unique part of New Zealand's history and society.  These activities will contribute to the objective of reconciliation under the government's National Identity theme and will benefit all New Zealanders.

Moriori have indicated their distinctive identity, culture, language and heritage is at risk.  Fragments of Moriori culture are known to be in various collections held in institutions across the country or retained though some oral traditions.  Drawing these collections together and documenting histories, oral literature, customs, and traditions will be a monumental work. 

This gathering, as I have said, is historic.  But its purpose is not historical.  We have come together looking to the future, and the generations to come. 

My hope is that they will look back to this day, and acknowledge all those who have kept the flame of Moriori culture, identity and traditions alive through the centuries, in times of peace, and in times of war and devastation. 

And I hope they will say that we too, together made a contribution, and that this contribution marked the start of a new, and wonderfully successful stage in the unending history of Moriori.

"Me Rongo"

 

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