“To defeat the rage, or at least tame it, we turn, as Abraham Lincoln once said, to ‘the better angels of our nature’. Those angels are everywhere, in spiritual beliefs, in tikanga, in simple notions of courtesy and civic pride.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“A rangatira is more than just a chief. The word ‘raranga’ means to weave. A ‘tira’ is a group of people who have a purpose. A rangatira is one who weaves together people who are on the move.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“Brothers and sisters, by blood or by connection, are often the first people we ever live with. We discover our individual selves after years of gradual growth alongside each other.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“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.
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“One antidote to Indigenous chauvinism is found within the Māori world itself. The tikanga of the marae where honest discourse is encouraged, show that transparency and accountability still matter.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“When we return, we don’t go home to the tribe. We go home to the hapū. Any hapū is a collection of whānau linked by a common ancestor or history. Way back in the day, the hapū was the main political unit of Māori society.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“Not everyone is fortunate enough to reach old age. Now that I’m closer to the end than the beginning, I’m grateful for the story of my life, so far.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“It is the way of our people to reach for new horizons and, by doing so, create new worlds and new ways of living. It is also the way of some of us to return home, to the places of our origins.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“There was nothing cool about my small classical repertoire. Beauty, yes. But a good time? No. I stopped my piano lessons.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“It’s been said that bankruptcy happens gradually, and then suddenly. That’s very true. It was my fault for making it gradual because I didn’t face up to my tax bill right away.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“I sometimes find myself on the speakers’ paepae at a formal hui. It’s always a daunting thing. Never to be taken for granted. Always to be reflected on.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“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.
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“It took me a long time to become friends with my mother — she was so busy being one.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“This was the first person I’d ever met who was healthy and sane in every way, but whose view of the world was entirely informed by the media. The sum of the biased tabloid, talkback and television BS she consumed had polluted her view of the country she lived in.” — Tainui Stephens
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“I vowed that I wouldn’t allow myself to be shamed by my ignorance again. As I think back to that long ago hui, part of me realises that all I had to do was get over myself.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“The private heroes among our friends and family won’t save the world by their personal courage, but their presence in our lives give us the chance to save our humanity.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“There is an indigenous spirit in Ōtaki that is unapologetic and proud. By definition that spirit is also loving.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“I’ve known many individuals who grew old before their time because of the energy they expended, and the risks they took with their health or their domestic happiness, all to be able to serve a vital kaupapa that uplifted the wellbeing of the people.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“Colonisation’s most torrid battles take place in the mind. And here in Aotearoa, our thoughts have been held captive by misplaced perceptions of superiority and inferiority.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“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.
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“The soundscape of a meeting house at sleep can be a wondrous thing or a foretaste of hell for the newbie, if only for the realisation of how many ways it is possible for human beings to snore.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“The thing about the big beats of history is that they’re often signs or reminders that we must now reimagine the society we live in. Momentous history requires momentous change.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“For parents on our own language journeys, we need to bring our children along for the ride.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“I would seek out kaumātua who were knowledgeable about the Māori world. I’d sit and listen to their words, try and remember them, and write them down afterwards.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“My journey to speak Māori became an act of reclaiming my identity. I had to know who I really was, before I could speak Māori fully.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“The hardest part about learning Māori, is learning how to think Māori.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“I knew of relations in Auckland, but not of any tribe. All that the old man had told us was he was from ‘up north’. Oh good, that narrows it down then!” — Tainui Stephens.
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“Canadians are inclined to point to racism as something that exists in the USA. ‘We are not the USA!’” — Tainui Stephens.
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“If I was a teenager today, I’d be anxious about the world I’m about to inherit. A job, a home, a family, clean air, and fresh water are well on their way to becoming luxuries.” — Tainui Stephens.
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“I’m sad to see our Little Miss slide listlessly into a final acceptance that her magnificent animal frame is on its last legs. She writes the last page of that Ngāruawāhia chapter of my life.” — Tainui Stephens farewells a dear friend.
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