
Time for a dramatic attitude change on the Pacific

The food of our ancestors

Celebrating Māori writing and storytelling

The Roaring Wind: Joe Hawke

Whina — doing justice to an icon

Moana Jackson: Portrait of a Quiet Revolutionary

Judge Heemi Taumaunu: Steps towards more justice
“I simply thought the system could be improved. That was the lesson I learned from my experience as a youth advocate, and I took that idea with me when I joined the bench.” — Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu.
Hope Tupara: Stepping up again
“The League was really uplifting for us because we got to understand that we weren't alone. We got to hear of other women and how they managed to work through problems.” — Dr Hope Tupara, new president of the Māori Women's Welfare League.
Sarah Hirini: Back to work
“I definitely respect my opponents, but I don’t think I’m a good loser. I love winning too much to enjoy a loss, although I know that our losses have made us a better team.” — Sarah Hirini, Black Ferns captain.
Ron Mark: People make the difference
"If I look back at my childhood, I resented everybody for a long time. But later, you develop a strong sense of affection for your foster families. As an adult, I have nothing but aroha for my foster parents." — Ron Mark.
Understanding Mātauranga Māori
“Mātauranga Māori is linked to Māori identity and forms part of the unique features which make up that identity. Because this is so, it also means that mātauranga Māori is a unique part of the identity of all New Zealand citizens.” — Sir Hirini Moko Mead.
Sort Out The Warriors
“According to the police’s own history, initially, the New Zealand Police were formed to counter a gang problem — that problem being the gangs of Pākehā sealers and whalers wreaking havoc among Māori communities.” — Denis O’Reilly.
Warehousing our humanity
“The warehousing of surplus humanity in prisons — and the ongoing incarceration of Māori in particular — is a crisis that has resulted in an unjust society where the shadow of the prison colonises our landscapes.” — Professor Tracey McIntosh.
Rangatiratanga isn’t scary
“Nobody wanted to just go and shut down a road. It was about safety and health in the face of a threat.” — Luke Fitzmaurice, co-author of 'Stepping Up: COVID-19 Checkpoints and Rangatiratanga'.
Siding with the powerless
“We have to fix whānau, to fix family. And if we do that, there’ll be nobody in front of our courts. For me, that is the paramount thing to focus on within the justice system.” — Michelle Kidd.
A university where we can see ourselves
“I still remember the Year 13 dean who decided I didn’t need university pamphlets because, in his eyes, I wasn’t university material.” — Jemaima Tiatia, Pro Vice Chancellor Pacific at Auckland University.
He maimai aroha: Anaru Robb
“Anaru’s ability to speak Māori committed him throughout his adult life to holding the government to task about its obligations to te reo Māori and Māori rights.” — Wena Harawira.
Portrait of a Quiet Revolutionary
Moana Jackson was “our Māori Yoda". "He brought clarity to our struggle and wisdom to our kitchen tables, influencing generations of policymakers and jurists alike.” — Moana Maniapoto on the making of ‘Portrait of a Quiet Revolutionary’, made with the support of NZ On Air.
Finding my taha Māori through Matariki
“What I ended up learning about Matariki and the maramataka has changed my life.” — Olive Karena-Lockyer, planetarium presenter and educator at Stardome Observatory.
What’s in a Māori name?
“I carry my name with pride. It’s a very public signifier of the reclamation of my whakapapa, and mine is the first Māori name in our direct line in 186 years.” — Atakohu Middleton.
Threads of red
"I can’t stand it any longer. I send away for a DNA test. It arrives in a little white packet, and I’m excited. I tell my husband that I’m sure I have Māori in me." — Aimee Milne.
Mozzies: We don’t cease to be Māori once we’ve left
“As ‘Mozzies’, our Māori identity is fluid and multi-faceted. We are Indigenous, we are Pacific peoples, we are largely urbanised living in a colonial world. There are many nuances to our identity.” — Ngāwaiata Henderson.
When the reo settles into your heart
“Once you’ve started to kōrero Māori with your kurī, there’s no going back.” — Siena Yates.
I’m not plastic — I’m Sāmoan
“It made the racism that came with being Sāmoan in Australia even harder to deal with. On one hand, I didn’t cut it as a real Sāmoan. On the other, I was being stereotyped as dumb and a troublemaker.“ — Lefaoali’i Dion Enari.
Can they cope with ‘more than the odd kia ora’?
“Being exposed to te reo in our everyday environments, including on our news channels, benefits both speakers and non-speakers of the language.” — Awanui Te Huia.
Taking care of our kupu
“The word kaitiaki is everywhere in mainstream Aotearoa these days. We often see it used to describe a person who takes cares of others, or to describe someone who takes care of taonga and items of value.” — Tame Malcolm.
What is spectrum, and why should Māori care?
“Māori want to ‘own’ spectrum, not to set up their own separate network, but as an incentive for existing telcos to enter into commercial deals with Māori.” — Andrew Robb.
The spectrum — the battle to reclaim a taonga
“It’s been a 30-year journey to get to this point, and the knowledge that has driven us is the knowledge that the spectrum is a taonga.” — Piripi Walker.
Susana Lei’ataua: Spreading her wings
“Am I being truthful? Am I being respectful? Am I prepared? And am I responsible? Those are the four things that really guide me.” — Susana Lei’ataua, RNZ Pacific's News Editor.
Reforming Māori media
"Sometimes I think we have too big an expectation of the reo Māori sector. Yes, broadcasting is part of the reo revitalisation plan. But it’s not the only mechanism." — Bailey Mackey.
Mōteatea: A window into the world of our ancestors
“They give us not only a glimpse into the customs, the language and beliefs of the time, but also an insight into our ancestors’ way of thinking and their emotions at the time of composing.” — Tenga Rangitauira.
Stories worth telling
“Imagine. A book about people like me, and other people wanting to read about us. It showed me we were good enough already, worthy of success and happiness and love.” — Maria Samuela.
Spending time with Cousins
“As immersive and moving as the film is, the book has depths and insights that can’t be accessed on screen.” — Kennedy Warne.
The flickering genius of the artistic spirit
The Māori intellectual tradition “has always been a daring, as well as imaginative, tradition propelled by both a longing to explore and the confidence that has come from the stories told in this land.” — Moana Jackson.
Assaulting the ears of government
“Whina and the other League women are remembered for ‘assaulting the ears of Government Departments’, particularly on issues related to housing and mortgages.” — Dr Aroha Harris.
The pain and anguish of a street name
“The name von Tempsky is a reminder of a past filled with despair and anguish and injustice. We did not want to have a name on our street which commemorates that man’s hand in the invasion of Waikato.” — Tukoroirangi Morgan.
Hongi Hika: No other Ngāpuhi leader outshone him
"Although his name and reputation have become blurred over time, for those of us who know the history of the north — and the history of our leaders who stood and defended our lands from the triple-threat of Europeans, muskets and religion — there is no one quite like Hongi Hika." — Shane Jones.
Weaving a tribal story
“The bylines of some entries are so unique, so remarkable, as to make you marvel that such a person could exist — and then to wonder why it has taken until now for their stories to become known to the wider public.” — Kennedy Warne on 'Tāngata Ngāi Tahu'.
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