Kaa Williams

I whānau mai a Kataraina (Kaa) i te marae o Te Umuroa i Ruatāhuna, i waenganui pū o Te Urewera, ā, ka kuraina ia ki Te Kura o Huiarau. Ka hūnuku ia ki Te Kura o Murupara i ngā tau 1940. Kua 58 tau, neke atu, a Kaa e whakapau kaha ana kia whai oranga te iwi Māori me te reo Māori i roto i ngā mahi huhua. Mō ngā tau 30, kua whakaako ia i te reo Māori, ā, nā rāua tahi ko tana tāne, ko Tāwhiri, te kura reo rua tuatahi o Aotearoa i whakatū. Koia te orokohanga mai o te kōhanga reo, me ngā kura kua rumakihia i roto i te reo Māori.

Ko Kaa tētahi o ngā kaiwhakamātautau a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori mō ngā pepa S.C me te U.E. He mātanga hāpai hoki mō ngā hōtaka o Whakaata Māori, pēnei i te hōtaka tamariki, a Manu Rere. Ko ia tētahi mema whakapū o te Tūhoe Education Authority, ā, nāna hoki i āwhina te whakamāoritanga o te marautanga Pāngarau mō ngā kura tuatahi. Ko Kaa te poutokomana o te reo Māori i Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori. Ka whakaako i ngā hōtaka rumaki i roto i te reo. He tohu kaiako mō ngā kura kaupapa Māori anō hoki, a rāua ko Tāwhiri mai i Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau. I te tau 2009, ka whakawhiwhia a Kaa ki Te Tohu Hapori mō āna mahi hāpai i te iwi Māori.

I ngā wā ka hoki atu ngā whānau mai i te tāone ki te kāinga i Rūātoki, ka whakaputa mai ā rātou pukapuka Pākehā. Kāre ngā tamariki o Rūātoki e mōhio ki te pānui. Ka whakaaro rātou, ‘Ū, dumb dumb mātou’. Engari kī atu ahau ki a rātou, ‘He aha koutou i kore he whakaatu atu wā koutou pukapuka Māori?’ Nā te mea karekau. Nā, i pēhea te ako i a rātou? Heria ki waho, ki roto i te taiao, heria ki reira. I hopuhopu ngā tamariki i ngā pūngāwerewere, i ngā kōhitihiti.