As all good Treaty partnerships demand, a significant amount of space in The Spinoff Aotearoa 2020 Time Capsule has been saved for tangata whenua. Like a yuck hāngī filled with bewilderment and Zoom, it’s time to bury this year in the ground. What a year to be of the non-white or Indigenous persuasion. What has … Read more
Charlotte Muru-Lanning lifts the lid on an intriguing legacy. First published December 9, 2020 When Māori Party MPs Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were sworn into parliament last week, both wore impressive hats. Their top hat and cowboy hat drew mostly praise, but also some criticism and confusion. In fact, some responses bordered on horror. … Read more
A morning spent exploring the new Toi Tū Toi Ora Māori contemporary art exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery with curator Nigel Borell stirred up many complex feelings, writes Ātea editor Leonie Hayden. Te ihi, te wehi, te wana are concepts in te ao Māori that provide a handy vocabulary, lacking in English, for describing great … Read more
Imagine a raucous garage party, with better talent, lighting and sound: welcome to the Modern Māori Quartet’s new show at Auckland’s Civic. There are many lessons to learn from 2020, but if there’s one I hope sticks, it’s the lesson to not to take shit for granted. Seize the day, seize the minute, seize the … Read more
Once plentiful, Kauri and Tohorā now face the threat of extinction. To save them we need to listen to the message of Tiwaiwaka, writes Donna Kerridge. We’ve heard it all before: New Zealand was a nation dependent upon whaling and logging for its economic survival and today we depend on farming, fishing, gas and oil … Read more
Tāmaki Makaurau is a city under construction, but are Māori and Pasifika architects and designers being given the opportunities they deserve? It seems everywhere you go in Auckland right now, there’s a new development of some sort. Whether it’s a new bridge, playground, some public housing or a refreshed streetscape, almost all these projects include … Read more
Today, our parliament will declare a climate emergency. Three young climate leaders say it’s a grim marker of the scale of human-caused planetary collapse, but we need to ensure the government does not sacrifice the important for the urgent. Historically, emergencies have failed to prioritise equity and fairness when the underlying infrastructure to do so … Read more
Stuff’s Pou Tiaki editor Carmen Parahi rallied her troops for what would become the ‘Our Truth, Tā Mātou Pono’ project on a Saturday, and pitched the idea to Stuff’s CEO the very next day. She tells Leonie Hayden about what happened next. On Monday the media-consuming public awoke to a surprise from Stuff, whose comments … Read more
Photographs of tūpuna Māori are fetching top prices at auction houses, with their descendants often forking out to ‘bring them home’. On September 20, 2001, an auction of 300 rare photographic prints and plates was blocked due to protests by Māori activists. The collection, potentially worth at least $150,000, included photographic prints and plates of … Read more
Helping to get more rangatahi Māori interested in animation and design industries, the first class from the Māoriland MATCH programme are set to graduate today. The Māoriland film festival is run every year out of Ōtaki, a small town on the Kāpiti Coast. The five-day event hosts a number of Indigenous storytellers every year, with … Read more
Why does the idea of a brown Santa get people so riled up? Comedian Janaye Henry gets in the Christmas spirit. There are cultural traditions that are passed down lovingly from generation to generation, that teach us about who we are and celebrate our unique way of life, and then there are… the watered down … Read more
Raiha Cook grew up attending kura Māori, but when she decided to study at the University of Otago she found the move from te ao Māori to European-style learning difficult. Now she’s researching that transition to help make it easier for students to feel safe at mainstream universities. Set in the spray of Raukawa Moana, … Read more
Leonie Hayden gets in her feelings about a shitty day for Māori women. There are days in my job where I feel nothing but hopeful. Like when I think about the work being done by Nuku100, telling the stories of 100 indigenous women. Or I get to wānanga with Donna Kerridge and Ayla Hoeta, or … Read more
Māori journalists are used to receiving racist messages. Sometimes you get one that just hits different, writes Te Aniwa Hurihanganui for RNZ. Content warning: contains violent racist language. I shouldn’t have been checking my work emails. It was a Saturday night and I was in my favourite place, my grandparents’ house, where the rooms carry … Read more
A second review by the Children’s Commission has made four key recommendations, including the transfer of power to iwi, hapū and whānau. A new report from children’s commissioner Andrew Becroft is calling for an immediate overhaul of Oranga Tamariki – largely through a transfer of power to Māori. The report, released yesterday, found Māori were … Read more
It’s never been more important to support local. Janaye Henry has brought her exceptional taste to the fore to help you support Māori and Pasifika-owned business this Christmas. Kirihimete is fast approaching and what better excuse to support our Māori and Pasifika creators? I was overwhelmed at the sheer volume of high quality products being … Read more
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has long championed high-end locally-made fashion, she wore local brand Maaike at her election night party. Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson has recently started taking a different route with her wardrobe – choosing instead a secondhand suit for her election night appearance. In the past few years, Instagram has become one … Read more
Profiling 100 indigenous women – how hard can it be? Very bloody hard, it turns out. But worth every sacrifice, says Qiane Matata-Sipu. Qiane Matata-Sipu is many things to many people. She’s a journalist who has written for this very website. She’s an award-winning photographer. She’s an activist and one of the land protectors at … Read more
In his new book, Anglican minister and historian Dr Hirini Kaa tells the 200-year story of iwi engaging with the church. Here he shares some of the threads of his life that led to writing Te Hāhi Mihinare – The Māori Anglican Church. All of us grow up with multiple identities, multiple ways of seeing … Read more
A woman walks into her local council office and asks if she can veto the Māori ward. That’s not the start of a joke – it’s weirdly something that can actually happen. Comedian Janaye Henry imagines how that conversation might go. Why are so many people opposed to the idea of Māori council wards? And … Read more
Janaye Henry’s satirical video about Te Wiki o Te Reo was a viral hit on social media this year, but the writer and comedian wasn’t joking about her commitment to te reo. At the start of the year, I couldn’t speak te reo Māori. I could say “kia ora” and “kei te pēhea koe?” but … Read more
As the law stands, councils that have voted to establish Māori wards can have that decision overturned by a public referendum. It’s time for the legislation to go, argues Florence Dean. Aotearoa, we have a problem. A problem that lies in our local government legislation. The Local Electoral Act 2001 currently allows voters to demand … Read more
Each week, two Tāmaki Makaurau community groups share a K Road cafe’s kitchen to support the local homeless community, and bring urban Māori together, through a simple, nourishing bowl of boil-up. Tangata whenua have always innovated within a changing environment. So, when Pākehā arrived in Aotearoa with new foods like pork, potatoes, pumpkin and flour, … Read more
As the first Māori woman to hold one of our government’s most pre-eminent posts, the appointment of Nanaia Mahuta to Minister of Foreign Affairs evoked mixed reactions. However, it’s a role she’s prepared for longer than you think, writes Carrie Stoddart-Smith for RNZ. For many, her appointment signalled the advancement of the progressive and inclusive … Read more
It’s Whiringa-ā-rangi/November, and Matiti Muramura, the third summer phase. Pōhutukawa blossom and kina are juicy and fat! Fish movement increases and tākeke (baby piper fish) come ashore again. The tākeke arrive in this Muramura phase, on the turning tide during Rakaunui. Based on observations last year, the timing would be around Rakaunui in December rather … Read more
In a legal first, Ngāi Tahu has lodged a statement of claim in the High Court seeking recognition of its rangatiratanga over its awa and moana, to address the ongoing degradation caused by the environmental mismanagement. Chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Lisa Tumahai, explains why it’s long overdue. We all know that something … Read more
New Zealand is one of the only developed countries still battling rheumatic fever. Now Cure Kids is giving its largest ever amount of funding to six studies into the childhood illness. Former Auckland Blues player Matt Johnson apologised for the loud tick coming from his chest as he stood up to tell his story of … Read more
Decisions around associate health delegations are critical, writes Shane Te Pou. If yesterday offered a moment to celebrate a historic series of cabinet appointments for Māori, today the euphoria needs to be put aside. It’s time to get on with the mahi. Nowhere is this more pressing than health. The new Labour government’s health team … Read more
A new website has consolidated data about and involving Māori, making it easier for iwi groups, trusts and Māori communities to access the statistics that impact their lives. A collaboration years in the making, the new Figure NZ and Callaghan Innovation website Pātaka Raraunga aims to make Māori data access easier for everyone. Consolidating thousands … Read more