The Pikihuia Awards are held every two years to celebrate excellence in Māori writing, both in reo Pākehā and reo Māori. This is the winning reo Māori essay in the non-fiction category, written by Zeb Tamihana Nicklin.
“In all its diversity, there is work by Māori that incorporates the Māori worldview. Also, there is work by Māori that does not. After all, there are many different ways of being Māori.” — Patricia Grace, at the Kupu Māori Writers Festival.
“Yes, we want people with in-depth mātauranga Māori writing about that knowledge. But we also want people who are struggling with their identity as Māori, or who have just come to it, because those are valid experiences in Aotearoa today.” — Robyn Bargh.
"Mōteatea were the storehouses of tribal and whānau memory and aspiration, drawn upon to nourish and feed the current and new generations, whilst ensuring they were equipped with the essential knowledge to help them navigate, understand, and explore their world." — Dr Hana O'Regan.
“Everyone I grew up with has story upon story like this — a sprinkling of farmers in Taranaki high as a kite on mistrust and suspicion, fiercely defending stolen land from the ones they stole it from.” — Airana Ngarewa on his new novel The Bone Tree.
“Coming up in the world of fashion, Kiri Nathan ran into brick walls at every turn, was told she wasn’t good enough, or her work was ‘too Māori’ to sell.” — Siena Yates.
“The Bone People is both a testament to this massive struggle against yourself ('You are nobody') and evidence that the struggle can be won. Hulme won.” — Rachel Buchanan.
“Aboriginal people, if they appear at all in the landscape, are presented as ornamental figures, framing devices, exotic touches. Only rarely is their humanity expressed . . . Mostly they are simply absent.” — Kennedy Warne on the erasure of Aboriginal people in colonial art.
“Enough of this burdensome, anxiety-producing, imposter syndrome we immigrants have felt the world over, meekly replying to aggressive shop assistants: ‘No, just looking thanks,’ as they follow us around stores.” — Loveni Enari on why he loves Some Are Always Hungry.
“I wanted to write something that puts Pākehā in the shoes of a colonised people. I want them to imagine a world in which their principles and values are routinely laughed at.” — Tīhema Baker, author of ‘Turncoat’, a satirical sci-fi novel.
“Lisa, and many of the characters in Inky Pinky Ponky are so close to my heart. Their moments and storylines, good and bad, are inspired by my own experiences, and also those of my trans sisters.” — Amanaki Prescott-Faletau.
“Perhaps one hundred years from now, every child born to Raukawa will know our oriori and be singing it as they grow. My hope is that it will feed the minds and hearts of our tamariki with their rich history.” — Paraone Gloyne.
“Compared with Pākehā, more Māori feel the arts are important for their wellbeing. Interestingly, art has more value for Māori who have less money, than for those who have hefty pūtea.” — Tainui Stephens.
“It was an experience I’ll never forget. I endured over 60 combined hours of physical and mental torture that threatened to tear my soul apart, let alone my skin.” — Pakilau Manase Lua, on getting a pe'a.
“The images represent an unusually careful and complex response to the difficult issues of history, politics, violence and memory.”
“Their plan was simply to show up at the students’ common room and ask them to take off the grass skirts. But the meeting became a confrontation and quickly blew up.” — Katie Wolfe, on the haka party incident.
“I truly came to believe that these taonga were asleep while they were in the swamp. The carvings embody so much mana, mauri and power from the old world that is just undiminished.” — Rachel Buchanan, on the Motunui epa.
“We know very well that Māori assertion and self-confidence frightens and angers some Pākehā. They're not used to Māori being in control. Rangatiratanga gives visibility to Māori decision-making.” — Tainui Stephens.
“Māori and Pasifika work has a range of barriers to overcome, and making them a strawman opponent for international Shakespeare fans just adds another.” — James Nokise.
“Making siapo is a traditional skill, and if new people don’t learn, then we lose that knowledge and artform. I know of only four other siapo artists.” — Jasmine Tuiā.
“One of the pervasive myths about Māori people (which we have taken to enthusiastically telling ourselves) is that ‘we don’t write’ despite literally millions of pages filled with words penned (or typed) by our own people — by ourselves.” — Professor Alice Te Punga Somerville.
“Te Matatini is one of those rare moments. It’s our opportunity to be completely and unashamedly Māori.” — Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora.
“Love is the final word of the film — a transcendent love of place and time, as much as of the heart and of each other.” — Tainui Stephens.
“Our most complex and important questions, theories, and ideas were shared and discussed by some of our greatest creators in te ao Māori.” — Chloe Fergusson-Tibble on Kupu, the Māori writers’ festival.
“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.
“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.
“As immersive and moving as the film is, the book has depths and insights that can’t be accessed on screen.” — Kennedy Warne.
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.
“Pacific singing is very personal because it’s the way we pass on our culture, so we bring a different range of emotions to the operatic world.” — Pene Pati of Sol3Mio.
“Over the past five years, Ngā Pakiaka has given 3,000 rangatahi, here and overseas, a taste of filmmaking. With the expert guidance of Māoriland’s producers, they’ve handled the planning, funding, and delivery of their work.” — Tainui Stephens.
“They never put me higher than second in the end-of-year tests. I suppose it would not have done to have this little dark kid, whose mother was Māori and whose father had shot himself, be placed first.” — Renée.
In celebration of National Poetry Day this Friday, here's a poem from Tusiata Avia, Arts Foundation laureate and winner of the poetry award at this year's NZ book awards.
“I can’t watch the show without cringing at the risque subject matter. Auē. But if they made the show based on my sensibilities, there would be ZERO rangatahi watching it.” — Quinton Hita on the bilingual drama series Ahikāroa.
“Sometimes we need to challenge the status quo and put forward our ideas so that we can shift the ground.” — Nigel Borell.
“He looked more Pākeha than any Pākehā I knew . . . But his was a life deeply immersed in te ao Māori. He was one of the best taonga puoro players in the world. A leading force behind their revival.” — Moana Maniapoto on Richard Nunns.
“A man stood up and said: ‘I thought this was the group to come to when you want to be racist.’ And then he left. I’m still hoping that was part of the show.” — Emmaline Pickering-Martin on 'Racists Anonymous'.
“It is the people who offer us the material and inspiration for our stories . . . The people are the ultimate sovereign power. Story sovereignty belongs with the people we serve.” — Tainui Stephens.
Visiting Toi Tū Toi Ora, Auckland Art Gallery’s exhibition of contemporary Māori art, is like being invited to a wānanga in cosmology and culture, writes Kennedy Warne.
“Weaving is my way of connecting my past and present with my future — that is, with my children and my mokopuna.” — Veranoa Hetet.
“I think what contemporary Pacific art tells us is what the truth of our reality is.” —artist-curator Ema Tavola.
“We define ourselves by the stories we choose to tell about ourselves. When we make films for our own people, it’s not just about the art of it, nor the business of it. We are testing the empowering potential of film.” — Tainui Stephens.
"She’d been late home and had been sent into the bathroom to bare her bottom for the cane. After the caning she’d peed, so the stick had come hitting down again For, Being, A, Dirty, Girl, Now, Clean, Up, This, Mess." — From 'Cousins', by Patricia Grace.
“My parents delivered some very intriguing one-liners which fired the imagination, such as: 'You know, you had an uncle who rode on a whale.'" — Patricia Grace.
“New Zealanders are fiercely reticent. They don’t want to stand out, whereas in America they just go: ‘Wow.’” — Jemaine Clement on New Zealand audiences.
“The legacy of Dawn Raid Entertainment serves as a timely reminder that our ambition mustn't get lost in the allure of money and fame.” — Litia Tuiburelevu.
“We grew up proud of being Māori, proud of Ngāi Tuhoe and of our tīpuna.” — Tim Worrall.
"There are very few who’ll understand how it feels to know that you’ve built this vessel that’s gone across the ocean and that’s delivered your people safely to their destination." — James Eruera, master waka carver.
“In filmmaking, the essence is collaboration. For something to be really good, there needs to be different perspectives, techniques and skills from lots of different people.”
“There are lots of silly excuses that people offer for why there aren’t more of us published. They say, for instance, that we don’t like to write. We aren’t storytellers. We’re not readers. But that’s ridiculous.”
“Everybody knows what it's like to be on a first date. Or have rude thoughts. And, as long as you're being honest, it can be funny.” — Kura Forrester, Billy T award winner.
“It's okay to be a bad writer in your first draft because a lot of the craft of writing is in the rewriting.”
“I always used to think that the work we were doing was adding another brick to the wall — the wall of rangatiratanga.”—Robyn Bargh, founder of Huia Publishers.
"I was so lucky to grow up with my 23 cousins. We all liked to joke around. I was used to banter and coming back with one-liners. And being a smartarse."
Comedian James Nokise, an Edinburgh Fringe festival veteran of seven years, on why Rose Matafeo winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award last week is a very big deal.
“People have come in for the haka boogie, and when they stay for a while, we can see them becoming empowered to take on fulfilling roles.”
Four plays in four languages staged over four weeks — a theatre experiment which aims to challenge the idea of English as the “mainstream” language and all other languages as exotic.
"It’s not enough for Pākehā readers and publishers to 'love' Pasifika or Māori or 'other' writers, while barely giving them space in print."
Being original and unique is an enormous reason that Black Grace is still here. We don't copy what happens in Europe or anywhere else.
“We were constantly finding ourselves among the firsts. It was scary because there wasn't enough work for us — and we had such a little voice in the industry.”
“When I was at school, I already knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to dance. But people would laugh under their breath when I told them because, in their opinion, it wasn’t a ‘realistic career’.”
James Nokise comes from a family with more than a few church ministers — his dad and grandfather...
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Early this year I was looking for an actress to play Shalimar Seiuli — the young...
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Maaaan… I blew that audition! I stagger out of the room, and all I can focus on is the overseas...
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