“That bridge tragedy in 1947 severed my links to my taha Māori. And only now, in my early 40s, am I reclaiming what was lost.” — Cornell Tukiri.
“It’s only in recent years that I’ve even plucked up the courage to claim my identity, to proudly say: Yes, I am Māori.” — Siena Yates.
"We don’t just want to see our life experiences. We want change so we can fully experience our lives." — Cole Meyers, writer and producer of 'Rūrangi'.
“It’s funny to think that it took moving across the moana and immersing myself in another Pacific culture to gain an appreciation of my own.” — Terina Kaire.
“Some of the things you may have learned from those anthropology textbooks shouldn’t be seen as a bible for what a ‘real’ Sāmoan is.” — Patrick Thomsen.
“Except for church, our Sāmoan-ness never made it out the front door of our house.”
“I can’t think of a time I’ve been in such a mixed group. There is a vibe of considerateness, gentleness. People are careful with the kids, and with each other. If you make eye contact, people say 'Kia ora', even if you don’t say it first.”
"Being an outsider because of my personality quirks was an identity I could embrace. Better than being defined purely by my lack of culture and language. Give me Crazy Pālangi over plain Pālangi any day."
When I hear a child saying she hates Pākehā, it doesn’t sit right with me. It’s the same when I hear people referring to the “bloody Pākehās”.
The good news is that the country seems to be in a process of recovery — and for Pākehā, discovery — of the Māori conceptual world.
I grew up in a predominantly Pākehā town in the South Island. My mother is Pākehā. My father, who...
Tūhoe leader Tāmati Kruger delivered this year’s annual Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture at the...
This chapter by Evelyn Marsters, “Shifting Borders”, is extracted from Fair Borders? Migration Policy in the Twenty-First Century, published by Bridget Williams Books.
I sat on the freshly concreted wall to my father’s grave, with tears steaming off my face. It was...
'I looked like I was just another Pālagi — whereas actually, I felt like I was a Samoan from South Auckland.'
No one can hurt you more than you can hurt yourself.
There’s a saying, a whakataukī, that reminds us that the kūmara doesn’t speak of its own...
Laura Toailoa was born in Samoa, grew up in South Auckland, and is now living in Wellington, where...
Before I started learning Māori, the only time I ever came into contact with the language was on...
As some of you will know, I recently had my DNA tested. Well, I got my results back, and I had a...
My family has no real secrets – that I know of, anyway. Mum and Dad are both my birth-parents. I...
I live in an increasingly Polynesian country. It is part of who I am, and I think a big part of...
I was rehearsing a speech in Māori the other day when my 10-year-old son interrupted me to ask if,...
Biculturalism is deeply embedded in the Kiwi psyche, writes Nadine Millar, but many of us don’t...
I worked in a call centre when I was 21 and sat on the side of the office that was almost...
An Irish-Maori Kiwi writer, Piripi Whaanga, has come across an Irish-American with a puzzling, and...
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