Nuku

Rachel Taulelei (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Koata) is the CEO of Kono, a whānau-owned food and beverage company that boasts horticulture, seafood and of course, award-winning wine. Guided by Te Pae Tawhiti, a 500 year plan for success, Rachel is at the helm of a unique business model with kaitiakitanga at its core. With a career that has spanned law, international trade and enterprise, business and, governance, you can understand why she is highly sought after in roles like the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council. In this episode we talk with Rachel about what it means to build an innovative international brand. We talk about wāhine in leadership, appropriation and the realities of working for your people.

Hiria Cameron and Kat Poi are sisters. Of Tainui, Te Arawa and Tongan whakapapa, the pair both work in racial equity education, building people’s skill, capacity and knowledge to engage, sustain and deepen conversation about race. Their mahi contributes to humanity achieving liberation and equity, while also empowering people to be healthy and, to thrive in their identities. They do this through one courageous conversation at a time. In this episode we talk about black lives and white skin. We try and talk about their youth as world trampoline champions but the discussion quickly returns to decolonisation and indigenisation, about shaping racial consciousness and about what it means to be “Māori enough”.

Donna Kerridge (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Mahuta) is a tohunga of Rongoā Māori, although she doesn’t describe herself as that. The humble practitioner, tutor and advocate is passionate about Indigenous practices that focus on healing and restoring our people and, our whenua. Rongoā is a practice she learnt from childhood, growing up in a whānau that would seek their medicine from the bush, and from each other. In this episode we talk about orangatanga and all that entails. We discuss the Tohunga Suppression Act and today’s laws that still limit our traditional practices. Donna shares some of her top tips for wellness and, tells us the tale of how her second form school teacher, Mrs Kingi, changed her life.

Kristin Ross (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Tara) is an entrepreneur, a producer and a creative. If you have tamariki, you will likely know her best as the co-founder and co-creator (with her husband Hōhepa) of the first Māori speaking dolls, and associated cartoon, Pipi Mā. Kristin and her husband produce Māori language content for digital and television broadcast, and while te reo Māori is now the primary language in their home, it wasn’t something she grew up with. In this episode we talk about being unapologetically Māori. Kristin’s passion for our language, our culture and her drive to create a fully Indigenous world for our tamariki and Mokopuna so te reo me ona tikanga can be a daily reality for our future generations.

Kiriwaitingi Rei (Te Arawa, Ngāti Ama ki Rangitaiki, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) has worked in governance for almost 10 years. Her mahi has seen her practice as a solicitor and working for a post settlement iwi investment company before becoming the Chief Executive of Maori Investments. She recently became the an independent director for the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union, the first wahine to be appointed to the board in its 108 year history. In this episode we talk about smashing stereotypes on the roles of women, the need for diversity of thought as well as gender balance and age representation on our governance boards and, what it takes to be a woman in leadership today.

Angela Swann-Cronin (Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata) is the first, and still the only, wahine Māori to become a pilot in the Royal NZ Airforce. A title she has held since 1999. Her career has gone from working in the military, to becoming a pilot with a regional commercial carrier, celebrating a few seaplane and skydive flying experiences in between. The māmā of two who has whakapapa to the East Coast, was born and raised in Rotorua, and although she spent much of her life travelling the world, she is happy to now be settled back there in a unique whare, made from straw, yes, straw. In this episode we talk about being a wahine in a male dominated industry, about the highlights, and challenges she faced in 13 years of military service and, Angela tells us all about that straw house.

Terangi Roimata Kutia-Tataurangi (Ngāti Konohi, Te Aitanga a Hauiti) is the only nail technician in the world that specialises in Māori nail art. She has coined the term Toimaikuku for her unique style that blends new beauty techniques with Indigenous design, offering both a nail salon experience and retail nail wraps. Born and raised in Te Tairāwhiti, the māmā of two is a graduate of Toihoukura, and is challenging the norms of Indigenous art practice. In this episode we talk about business, beauty and being a boss.

Dr Diana Kopua (Ngāti Porou) is a psychiatrist that is changing the system by preferencing Indigenous approaches to orangatanga. As the developer of Mahi a Atua, she uses Māori creation stories and pūrākau to transform mental health frameworks, providing an affirmation of our amazing genealogy and validation for our resilience. Dr Di is teaching communities of practice an alternative to the Western model, using a culturally sensitive new therapy to address mental distress and suffering amongst Māori. In this episode we talk about her upbringing, her career journey, and how her approach to health is smashing white supremacy.

Tina Ngata (Ngāti Porou) has spent her life showing up for justice. Working in advocacy for Indigenous peoples and Papatūānuku, her passion for justice led her to become an active researcher, mahi that works in research while also committing to being an active part of the solution. She believes that in order to achieve lasting social and environmental justice, we must first start with decolonisation and dismantling the doctrine of discovery. In this episode we talk about imperialism in Aotearoa, her passion for te taiao and, that time she worked for the Royal Family.

Honey (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Haua, Waikato-Tainui) is a sporting icon. The current captain of the Kiwi Ferns is a dual-code sportswoman with a career that has spanned 18 years and counting. The semi-professional athlete is also a disability sports adviser and sports commentator, smashing stereotypes across the sector. Born and raised in Putāruru, Honey invites us back to her whānau homestead to share her story. From her childhood days playing every sport the rural town had on offer, to raising her own teenage boys, and, her passion for equality in sports. She also talks about caring for her terminally ill māmā, and the realities of dealing with grief.

Courtney (Tainui, Ngāti Koroki Kahukura) is a jeweller, artist and a lapidist - someone who cuts and shapes precious stones. Through her business - Courtney Marama, she designs bespoke jewellery, handcrafted in precious metals and set with gemstones from Aotearoa mainly working with Pounamu. Her unique approach to Pounamu, marries tradition with innovative design, shaping delicate pieces not commonly made from this taonga. In this episode, we talk about her upbringing in Cambridge, her sustainable approach to craftswomanship and, being a new māmā.

Kera Sherwood-O’Regan (Kāi Tahu) is a wahine who lives with Fibromyalgia. She started the organisation Fibromyalgia Aotearoa NZ,  to help others living with the condition. Alongside this mahi, she also runs Activate, a social enterprise creative agency with a focus on bringing voice to social and environmental kaupapa. Since age 16, Kera has advocated for Indigenous rights. She is a staunch climate activist and has represented Indigenous Aotearoa a number of times at the United Nations convention on climate change. In this episode, we talk about climate justice and the effect global warming has on every aspect of life. We learn about how important Indigenous solidarity is when speaking to a global audience and, we kōrero about living with an invisible disability.

Kanoa  (Ngāti Porou, Tuhoe) started off as a kid’s tv presenter and is now one of very few (less than a handful on our count) wahine Māori to lead prime time television in Aotearoa. Born in Gisborne, she spent much of her childhood moving around Tokomaru Bay, East Cape and Coromandel, before moving to Cromwell. Recently reconnecting to Ruatoria has become a significant part of her adult life and was key in her journey to strengthen her hononga to all sides of her whakapapa. Using her platform to advocate for and address issues that affect many New Zealanders, Kanoa flows between waves of both public support and public criticism. In this episode we talk about the joys and pains of being a wahine Māori in mainstream media, we learn about Kanoa’s childhood, she shares stories of the indigenous women who inspire her most, and we laugh, and cringe, about all the keyboard warriors.

Marama (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) is a māmā, an activist, a proud wahine Māori and, the co-leader of the New Zealand Green Party. For years we have seen her on our television screens, in our newspapers, and at our community events. Many of her speeches in the house have gone viral and she isn’t afraid to front the public on some our toughest social and environmental issues. But who is the wahine behind the politician? In this episode we talk about her rise to politics and the realities of mahi and māmāhood. About climate change and social inequalities and, that time she kayaked up the Whanganui Awa, retracing the ancient trade routes, all the way to Tāmaki Makaurau.

Tia lives in Vancouver. It is the tupuna whenua of her husband and where she is raising her tamariki for the time being. Of Ngā Puhi and Te Aupōuri whakapapa, she is a māmā of six and the director of Whaea Productions. She has spent many years working towards the protection of our taiao, and challenging decision-makers in their recognition of Indigenous peoples. Being so far from home she finds solace in the Indigenous communities around her, and has focussed much of her recent mahi documenting the stories of Indigenous women. In this episode we talk about the challenges of living overseas, she tells us about jumping off the Auckland harbour bridge with her Tino Rangatiratanga Flag and, what its like to be a wahine mau moko, and, a Constellation.

Rangimarie is the tumuaki of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tututarakihi in the Far North. At only 29 she is transforming the education system by creating a unique kura, embeded in tikanga Māori, with a goal to actively exercise Tino Rangatiratanga. Tututarakihi aligns its school term with the maramataka. The curriculum caters to the interests of its tamariki, and the taiao as a core part of the classroom. Language, mathematics and science are learnt through diving, fishing, entrepreneurship, farming and other practices that invite community champions to become kaiako, teaching through lived experience. In this episode we talk about the status of te reo Māori in Aotearoa, creating a tikanga-based Māori education system, Rangimarie’s dream to build a whare whakairo in Te Tai Tokerau and,  why she advocates for a 4 day working week for better whānau wellbeing. 

Julia is a dancer, mark maker, storyteller. Of Papua New Guinean and Australian heritage, she created the film Tep Tok : Reading Between Our Lines, sharing the journey to raise awareness for the dying art form that she is helping revive through her hand poke and hand tap method. She talks to us about her practice, about women’s traditional roles in mark making, and reviving the old, to new old.

This full time artist is a bark cloth maker and currently living in Turanga (Gisborne). Her Aute pieces are adorned with celestial patterns, combining ancestral knowledge of Kapa and star navigation. In this episode we talk about how Hawaii helped Nikau find her calling, how art school almost turned her off being an artist and, that time she ran off to be in the circus.

Aqui is a Janajāti woman from the Himalayan regions of South Asia. She travelled to Aotearoa from India earlier this year for an exhibition we both participated in at ST PAUL st Gallery. It was in the middle of the Ihumātao reclamation and so we recorded her interview in a portacom, on the whenua. In this episode she shares the reality of being an indigenous Indian woman, of growing up in a militarised neighbourhood, the rules around when and how people can gather, and the truths of the tea plantations in her home area of Darjeeling. She also talks to us about her brave move to open Sister Library and, how she uses art in activism and community empowerment projects.

Recently Pualani Case travelled to Aotearoa to bring us the stories of Hawaii and her fight to protect her maunga, Mauna Kea.  Aunty Pua, as she is affectionately known, is a spiritual and cultural leader. She is a Kumu Hula, a teacher of traditional dance and chant, and is a passionate advocate for the Kanaka Maoli indigenous people of Hawaii.  She holds multiple degrees, and was a public school teacher for more than 30 years, but today, she and her family work tirelessly to protect their ancestral spaces from destruction and desecration.  In this episode we talk about religious colonialism, indigenous solidarity, and of course, her beloved Mauna Kea.  #KūKia'iMauna