Miriama Aoake 
The great filmmaker Barry Barclay (Ngati, The Kaipara Affair) also wrote books on Māori screen arts and philosophy. Miriama Aoake delved back into Mana Tūturu: Māori Treasures and Intellectual Property Rights, in which he reimagines Captain Cook’s landing in Aotearoa if cameras were present. Two hundred and fifty years ago, a white man from England … Read more
The five finalists of APRA’s Maioha Award for contemporary Māori songwriting were announced today. Miriama Aoake looks at the final five and their place in the future of te reo Māori. This August has been a particularly busy month for Māori music; a celebration of the capabilities and dexterity of a thriving community. Alien Weaponry, a teenage thrash … Read more
Miriama Aoake on JessB’s Block Party, an event which celebrated both the release of JessB’s debut EP and women of colour in New Zealand hip-hop. Last Friday, Galatos played host to a sundry of performances curated by JessB, coinciding with the release of her debut EP, Bloom. The night served to both celebrate and exhibit the potency … Read more
Miriama Aoake looks at the Taite Music Prize finalists and asks: Why are most of the finalists white? And why do they nearly all have guitars? The Taite Music Prize finalists for 2018 were announced today. Among them, the talent boasted by the finalists is unquestionable. The line-up is dominated by incredible women: Aldous Harding, … Read more
Every year indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand go under the spotlight on Invasion Day and Waitangi Day – and every year the media finds problematic ways to report them. This won’t change while our media is still controlled by the coloniser, writes Miriama Aoake. January is a dry marathon. Days fold into themselves and time … Read more
Currently studying abroad, Miriama Aoake is coming face-to-face with international museum ethics and the exploitation of tangata whenua for taonga. On the first floor in the northern wing of the British Museum there is a tiled urupā with glass tombs. Past the gift shop, through the twin doors and left at mo’ai (whanaunga from Rapa … Read more
As well as being the official NZ Wars commemoration date, October 28 is celebrated by Northland iwi for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that recognised Māori sovereignty, explains Miriama Aoake. In 1835, 34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tīreni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes … Read more
Jacinda Ardern’s first week as Labour leader has brought a flood of admiring comparisons to Helen Clark. But Miriama Aoake argues that the comparison is false, largely because Ardern has proven more engaged with the concerns of Māori than the far more cynical Clark. Jacinda Ardern last week became the Labour Party’s fifth leader since Helen … Read more
Miriama Aoake listens to Jay-Z’s new album 4:44 and finds the rapper full of introspection, self-criticism and, ultimately, black empowerment. A couple of weeks ago, Jay-Z was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame by Barack Obama, unanimously nominated by his industry peers. He was the first rapper to receive the honour. The following week, … Read more
Miriama Aoake reacts to the male-dominated lineup announcement for dance music festival Northern Bass. It’s hardly surprising that last week’s first lineup announcement for Northern Bass hardly set Aotearoa alight. The festival’s lineup has remained relatively unchanged for perhaps the past 10 to 15 years, with the exception of two or three international headliners. One … Read more
Future is coming to New Zealand! Futurehive member Miriama Aoake breaks down why you should be as excited as she is. A few weeks ago, my aging but reliable MacBook Pro crashed and burned in spectacular, day-before-assignment-is-due fashion; taking a vast majority of my music collection with it. Work and uni required an immediate replacement … Read more
Futurehive member Miriama Aoake guides you through the world of prolific rapper and chart history-maker Future. Nearly eight months has passed since Future’s last release, Project ET: Esco Terrestrial, a project alongside longtime producer, collaborator, and fellow ATLien, DJ Esco. The post-Ciara era of 2014-2016 saw Future at his most prolific and hungry: Monster, Beast … Read more
When a brown-skinned man darkens his face and jokes about being black, that’s colourism – the belief that people with dark skin are inherently inferior to those with lighter skin – in action, writes Miriama Aoake. This is an edited version of a post which first appeared on Medium.com. Last week Jimi Jackson (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi), … Read more