Words Between Us -- He Korero
This session from Going West 2011 is based on an exhibition and subsequent award winning publication Words Between Us - He K\u014drero by Alison Jones and Kuni Kaa Jenkins, which won the 2012 Ng\u0101 Kupu Ora M\u0101ori Book Awards.
Both the exhibition and the book traced the first M\u0101ori conversations on paper from 1769 to 1835. As the authors\u2019 wrote, \u201cit is hard to imagine the shock experienced by M\u0101ori who first heard written words spoken in the local language. The startling fact about writing was that P\u0101keh\u0101 marks could \u2018say\u2019 M\u0101ori words; P\u0101keh\u0101 texts could have M\u0101ori meaning.\u201d
As the speakers note, the first book ever printed in New Zealand was in M\u0101ori.
Alison Jones is a professor at Te Puna W\u0101nanga, the School of M\u0101ori and Indigenous Education, University of Auckland and was awarded the NZARE McKenzie Award in December 2011 for her significant contribution to educational research. She has worked with M\u0101ori scholars and students in the field of education for 25 years and has a fascination with the complexities of M\u0101ori and P\u0101keh\u0101 educational relationships. She has written a number of books in the area of sociology of education and M\u0101ori education.
Kuni Jenkins is a professor with Te Whare W\u0101nanga o Awanui\u0101rangi where she teaches and conducts research. She has had a long-term interest in literacy, and her PhD involved archival study of early M\u0101ori written documents and the relationships between M\u0101ori and P\u0101keh\u0101. She has written a number of books in the area of sociology of education and M\u0101ori education.
The session is introduced by Rose Yukich, a Going West Trustee and academic at the University of Auckland.