Still Being Punished

by Rachael Selby

“I have seen rangatahi arrogantly pass judgement on their elders who do not speak te reo Maori. I see the pain felt by our elders who were punished as children and who now suffer at the hands of the rangatahi who do not know about our history.” The stories collected here are told by Maori men and women who were physically disciplined at school for speaking the Maori language. Their stories are of the on-going effects of institutional violence meted out at the intersection of body, language and society.

Genres: Nonfiction

70 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1999

Reviews

[Ana de Melo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is my first NZer author reading. 70 pages of storytelling about physical punishments to Maori children during the fifties and sixties on the 20th century, just because they weren't allowed to speak te reo Maori at schools. As a foreigner living in Aoteoroa, this book was a good starting point on my curiosity to explore the history of this recent country.

[Danya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really important read - short history and testimonials of how our education system was designed to drive te reo Māori to extinction yuck but ends with a great message of hope and healing 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[Bailey Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Aunty Rangi told Charles that when she was a child at school the Pākehā teachers strapped her [when] she spoke in her mother tongue, te reo Māori. As she watched this young Pākehā man stand on her marae, pace forward, begin his tauparapara, the irony and the pain hit her in the chest and she wept."

I've anecdotally observed that there tends to be some confusion around the banning of te reo Māori in schools during the mid-twentieth century - specifically around whether it actually ever happened at all. I've experienced this myself as history books themselves are sometimes unclear about the whole issue - mainly I think because its never been shown that schools ever had a formal policy around the language.

But a lack of written material does not mean corporal punishment never happened, and Selby convincingly argues (following the Tribunal)that if there was no policy banning te reo Māori at schools in the mid-twentieth century, "there was an extremely effective gentleman's agreement!" First-hand accounts from Māori elders born in the 1930s tell of how te reo Māori was in some cases literally beaten out of children from as early as 5 years old, and of the lingering trauma this has caused.

Re trauma, I was particularly interested by Selby's discourse around Pākehā learning and speaking te reo Māori today as well as some of the attitudes held by rangatahi Māori towards their kaumatua who cannot kōrero Māori. Selby points out that perceptions of te reo Māori have totally changed in the last 30 or so years. While this is great for te reo Māori revitalisation, it is also important we protect our kaumatua who still grieve the loss of their birthright, and struggle to reclaim what was lost.

My one critique is one which Selby herself has picked up on: that her interviewees all come from very similar backgrounds - mainly Ngāti Porou educated in the Native Schools system. In some ways this does makes sense as there were few Māori who attended mainstream schools before the 1960s when Māori began migrating to the city centers. But it would have been interesting to compare the experiences with others beyond the rural east coast.

Nonetheless, this is a small but powerful book that provides context to the Māori language renaissance of the 1980s. It also holds an important message for modern learners of te reo Māori — to hold this taonga with humility out of respect for those who are still being punished for speaking their mother tongue.

[Ellen Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small but powerful book; it broke my heart. It boggles the mind to remember that only since the 1970s, tamariki have not been punished for speaking te reo at school.

As a pakeha, I think these books are vital to help deepen our understanding of both te reo Māori and Aotearoa.

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Had heard of punishments like this around the use of Māori language in schools, similar theory to my grandfather being punished for writing with his left hand (and Nana) in the early 1900s I think. People need to read the book because they forget how life was, how people thought it was for the best and that the Pakeha way was the way you could get on. I remember the language being revitalised in the 80s, in fact I tried to learn Māori at university in the early 1990s. I was one of the few pakeha in the class - the language had almost died out so they were working to get people, particularly Māori adults, to learn it and revive the language. It’s no easy feat to learn a language as an adult, I didn’t succeed, most of the time I felt like an imposter in that class and I wonder how many in that class are now fluent speakers and have gone on to teach others? Most of them I hope. I wish I’d persevered. I’d be fluent now. But that sense of not belonging never leaves you and if you were punished for speaking Māori, how much harder is it to learn with those experiences resurfacing?

[Sarah Beshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read this as part of a book collection from my Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Tikanga Māori course. What a great short book giving perspective on Māori’s interaction with their own language based on the early schooling system in the 1900’s. It is saddening to learn about the effects the system had, but the book is really relevant to today’s way of addressing it which we all hope to see in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into State Care. I hope as a nation we can cherish and foster te reo for the sake of its tangata whenua and the beauty of NZ’s native country as a whole.

[Kathryn Fathers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories not only to Maori. So much reminds me of my childhood. Parental expectations. Lack of serious education for girls. I tried to learn Maori in the 1990s but the tutor wouldn't let us take notes as it was an oral language. Lessons at the end of a working day were lost by time I got home. No books no notes. I was hopeless and gave up

[Chanté Autar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book extremely insightful - with all of the politics happening around Te Tirito o Waitangi, I wanted to educate myself a little deeper on Māori history and really be able to be advocate for our indigenous peoples with knowledge behind my words. An important read for anyone who lives in Aotearoa 🙌

[Charly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love the way it was edited - a bit too conversational, with ideas jumping around even within paragraphs - but the content should be compulsory reading for everyone living in NZ. It's hard to understand how we got here as a society if we don't know the road we've travelled.

[Maraika Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories from kaumaatua who were physically abused at school for speaking te reo Maaori. Brought tears to my eyes.