Author: Dale Husband

“People don’t realise that we’re descended from scientists. They just think we’re a bunch of indigenous people who fluked getting to places.”

We’re “a changing, creative and responsive people whose culture isn’t fixed or static”. — Sean Mallon, Senior Curator Pacific Cultures, Te Papa.

“I see moko as a reflection of our society. We’re now at a stage where we can celebrate who we are as Māori people.”

“Teaching your kids that they need to develop some resilience and strength of character is essential, but it’s just as important that they know and feel the love from the people bringing them up.”

The soldiers of the Māori Battalion never envisaged that, for their descendants, the rates of incarceration, ill-health, and unemployment were going to soar when they came back from the war.

“It wasn’t until I went to Westlake Girls’ that I realised I was Māori. In Kaitaia, everybody’s Māori to some extent. Even the Pākehā or the Dallies.”

“I have a lot of faith in this country and in our people to navigate a future which is positive and which is probably different from anywhere else in the world.”

“As Māori, we’re unique. I don’t think I’m better than anybody else, but I think I’m bloody just as good.”

The education system kept excusing itself for not doing the best it could for Māori kids by blaming Māori kids themselves.

“Our future wellbeing relies on addressing issues far deeper than how much money will become ours in a settlement deal.“

“The only way Māori and Pacific outcomes are going to improve is if European New Zealand actually confronts its racist heritage and acknowledges that that racism is alive and well.”

“It’s not being Māori, Pacific, disabled, or rainbow that’s the disadvantage. It’s the discrimination in the system that disadvantages us and treads on our dignity.” —EEO Commissioner, Dr Karanina Sumeo.

“It’s great to have this role, but it won’t mean much if, over the next 20 years, we don’t see anyone else coming through the door and rising up through the ranks.” — Tiana Epati, president-elect of the NZ Law Society.

“You can do anything you put your mind to. Don’t be limited by having just one path.”

“There weren’t many Māori in Timaru in that period . . . In fact, I first learned about Māori culture from a Weet-Bix card.”

“We challenge students to think about their own perceptions and prejudices and how these impact on the provision of healthcare.”—Associate Professor Fa’afetai Sopoaga, winner of the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Excellence in Tertiary Teaching.

“It’s so important for me to get Māori kids on the page, which is why my protagonists are always Māori. Because when I was growing up, you just didn’t see yourself.”

“Pacific Islanders do things a bit differently — especially because of their respect for authority or for elders. But you can have respect and still question without challenging offensively.”

“I had confidence in Jacinda. That’s the other thing I’ve learned on my journey. It’s the importance of recognising talent — including talent that’s better than you.”

“I think the global indigenous cinema needs a global indigenous fund. We need to see the value of our stories, which somebody else takes the profit from.”

‘I loved listening to Nan’s stories about how, when she was a little girl, she’d sit there with her nanny, who used to smoke a pipe … and read the Pākehā newspaper to her in te reo Māori.”