James K Baxter’s Jerusalem Daybook “had woken something, disrupted something, in my placid Pākehā existence. Like the water tank in Baxter’s story, bullet holes were appearing in the walls of assumption and belief.” — Kennedy Warne.

“There is no airstrip. To get to Takū, you book a passage on the supply ship — if it's sailing. Last year, not a single ship visit was made. Cut off from outside supplies, the islanders relied entirely on their traditional food sources: fish, coconut and occasional taro."

“Of first importance, the river. Of second importance, the river.”— Kennedy Warne on the Whanganui River.

“Traits like humility and service are not typically associated with leadership in New Zealand workplaces, yet in the Pacific context they are among the most valued characteristics a leader can possess.”

History shows that it is invariably Māori who have been denied access by Pākehā to that which is precious to them, not the other way round.

“Being positioned as a “Māori” teacher came at a price. With this visible Māori identity came expectations from my colleagues that I was an expert on all things Māori.”

Kennedy Warne has been a geographical explorer for 30 years, but he considers his most important exploration to have been cultural and spiritual: an awakening to te ao Māori.

"I seek home in others’ hearts, and ask their permission to write of it. I look for aroha in their stories, for it is love that helps light things up when darkness threatens."

“From the beginning, each of us recognised something in the other: two Māori boys off to conquer the world.” —Witi Ihimaera

For decades, May Mackey provided "compassion and aroha and prayer support without judgment" to prisoners. Last week, the 98-year-old was honoured for that work.

"There’s a vast untapped market that is hungry for books where Pasifika peoples are centered, where we are the mainstream and not the marginalised Other."

“On Twitter, I found my community. False divides established through imperialism clearly exist across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, and maybe the internet provides an opportunity to jump across those.”

"The big challenge is how we as whānau and communities confront this terrible darkness, this sad duality that creates such a tragic legacy. There is no quick fix. It requires an open and honest conversation.”—Moana Maniapoto

Papatūānuku has been an emblem of political identity and cultural survival for Māori.

“The #MeToo movement hasn’t flowed through our Pacific communities as publicly as it has elsewhere. I think a big part of that is that the ones who’ve hurt us are our family. So outing our assaulter hurts us in new ways, and brings back the old pain.”

“I lived to make my mum happy . . . And hiding my truth was one way I tried to do that. I wanted to protect the both of us.”

The concept of wearing allegiances on the face, of using the skin as a canvas to tell a personal story . . . was a distinctly Māori expression.

“It took years of very conscious effort for me not to be afraid to walk into a room full of people darker than I was.”