Kua hōrapa te rongonui o Tā Tīmoti Kāretu rāua ko Tākuta Wharehuia Milroy hei mātanga o te reo me ngā tikanga Māori ki ngā tōpito o te motu. E hia kē mai nei ngā tau ko rāua rāua hei kaiwhakaako i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, ā, he momo whakaako hou tā rāua i taua wā i roto i ngā whare wānanga, arā, me ū ngā kaiwhakaako me ngā ākonga ki te reo me ngā tikanga, ā, me kōrero te reo i ngā wā katoa, i ngā wāhi katoa. Kāore i te pērā ētahi whare wānanga i taua wā. He pukapuka tēnei nā ēnei ruānuku matararahi mō ngā kaupapa mātuatua o te reo me ngā tikanga. Ko ētahi o ngā kaupapa ko te mana, te tapu, te wairua, te whakapapa, te kawanga whare, te poroporoaki, te kōrero paki, me ngā kaupapa o te reo me ngā tikanga o te ao hurihuri nei. Hei tauira ō rāua reo mō ngā ākonga me ngā kaikōrero ka whai mai. Nā te mahi ngātahi a Te Wharehuia rāua ko Tīmoti me tētahi rōpū o Te Ipukarea hei hopu i ngā kōrero, hei tuhituhi i aua kōrero, ka hua mai te pukapuka nei hei taonga mā ngā reanga o nāianei me āpōpō.

Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and Dr Wharehuia Milroy are widely recognised as two of New Zealand’s leading teachers and scholars of Māori language and culture. They both taught at The University of Waikato from the 1970s and pursued an innovative approach by teaching language courses in te reo Māori, with tikanga courses taught in Māori and English. Te Wharehuia and Tīmoti were pioneers in this area, forging a model for teaching Māori which is now followed by many other tertiary institutions. This is a book of chapters on key aspects of Māori language and culture authored by two of this country’s pre-eminent kaumātua. The authors discuss key cultural concepts (including mana, tapu, wairua, whakapapa, ritual, farewell speeches and Māori humour) as well as language and cultural issues of the modern world. The language used is an exemplar for learners and speakers of te reo Māori. With assistance from a team at Te Ipukarea, the National Māori Language Institute, who transcribed and edited structured conversations between these two kaumātua, this book preserves the voices and ideas of these two renowned scholars for present and future generations.