Kua horapa te rongonui o Ta Timoti Karetu raua ko Takuta Wharehuia Milroy hei matanga o te reo me nga tikanga Maori ki nga topito o te motu. E hia ke mai nei nga tau ko raua raua hei kaiwhakaako i Te Whare Wananga o Waikato, a, he momo whakaako hou ta raua i taua wa i roto i nga whare wananga, ara, me u nga kaiwhakaako me nga akonga ki te reo me nga tikanga, a, me korero te reo i nga wa katoa, i nga wahi katoa. Kaore i te pera etahi whare wananga i taua wa. He pukapuka tenei na enei ruanuku matararahi mo nga kaupapa matuatua o te reo me nga tikanga. Ko etahi o nga kaupapa ko te mana, te tapu, te wairua, te whakapapa, te kawanga whare, te poroporoaki, te korero paki, me nga kaupapa o te reo me nga tikanga o te ao hurihuri nei. Hei tauira o raua reo mo nga akonga me nga kaikorero ka whai mai. Na te mahi ngatahi a Te Wharehuia raua ko Timoti me tetahi ropu o Te Ipukarea hei hopu i nga korero, hei tuhituhi i aua korero, ka hua mai te pukapuka nei hei taonga ma nga reanga o naianei me apopo.

Sir Timoti Karetu and Dr Wharehuia Milroy are widely recognised as two of New Zealand’s leading teachers and scholars of Maori 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 Maori, with tikanga courses taught in Maori and English. Te Wharehuia and Timoti were pioneers in this area, forging a model for teaching Maori which is now followed by many other tertiary institutions. This is a book of chapters on key aspects of Maori language and culture authored by two of this country’s pre-eminent kaumatua. The authors discuss key cultural concepts (including mana, tapu, wairua, whakapapa, ritual, farewell speeches and Maori 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 Maori. With assistance from a team at Te Ipukarea, the National Maori Language Institute, who transcribed and edited structured conversations between these two kaumatua, this book preserves the voices and ideas of these two renowned scholars for present and future generations.