Stars in the Soundshell: Witi Ihimaera’s creation myths come to life in Wellington

This weekend’s Garden Party festival in Wellington sees the premiere of Navigating the Stars, a live performance for families based on Witi Ihimaera’s acclaimed collection of the same name. Ahead of the show, Ihimaera spoke to his friend and former collaborator Whiti Hereaka about bringing the stories to the stage. Witi Ihimaera describes himself as … Read more

The man with a mandate to change the way Kiwibank thinks about Māori

A distinctly colonial institution, banking has long ignored te ao Māori. Teaho Pihama believes investment in tikanga Māori at Kiwibank can have significant, positive outcomes for Māori. In early 90s Tāmaki Makaurau, when Teahooterangi (Teaho) Pihama was growing up riding his bike around the streets of Kingsland until the streetlights came on, the inner city … Read more

The story behind the fight to save Ihumātao

Five years ago a group of local cousins began a campaign to stop a proposed Fletcher Building housing development and restore the whenua into iwi ownership. Yesterday a deal was signed paving the way for its return. Justin Latif speaks to the woman who started it all about how they defied the odds and the … Read more

Humour over rumour: How South Auckland is pushing back against 5G conspiracy theories

A new series of videos uses comedy to debunk misinformation that’s proved to be particularly visible in South Auckland. Justin Latif spoke with local community leaders about why these theories find South Auckland such fertile ground, and what can be done to curtail their spread.  “I have family who believes in all sorts of conspiracies … Read more

No more token tack-ons: Building mana into Auckland design

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

A review of Hiakai, perhaps the most important cookbook in the country

A photograph of pikopiko fronds arranged on a black background. The cover of Hiakai.

Locked down in Brisbane, chef Te Tangaroa Turnbull finally read the cookbook they’d been waiting for – and was moved to tears. Hiakai may be the most important cookbook yet written in Aotearoa. A foundation text for the use of traditional Māori ingredients, it deserves to be read alongside the likes of René Redzepi’s Noma … Read more

Recipe for resilience: Te ao Māori and the Covid-19 response

Across Aotearoa, Māori responded to the unique needs of their communities during the peak of Covid-19. Two Māori organisations share the lessons from their success. Hutia te rito o te harakeke  Kei hea te kōmako e kō?  Whakatairangitia, rere ki uta, rere ki tai;  Ui mai ki ahau,  He aha te mea nui o te … Read more

‘What are you Christians doing here?’ Matt Renata on faith and protest at Ihumātao

Matt Renata was a constant presence at Ihumātao, assembling what he calls a ‘church of the good vibes’. He tells Justin Latif about tackling the sceptics, and his work with old friend Pania Newtown. “Why do you believe in this colonised God?”  That’s the question Protect Ihumātao co-leader Pania Newton put to church-minister-in-training Matt Renata … Read more

All fired up: Māngere gets set for first-ever marae food festival

This weekend’s Te Ahi Kōmau festival will celebrate South Auckland’s  fiery volcanic  past and amazing local produce. Justin Latif visited the marae as the hāngī pits were being dug in preparation. Not all superheroes wear capes and not all chefs wear a toque and apron.  Anthony Adlam is one such chef, described as the master … Read more

Prioritising Māori perspectives could make Aotearoa thrive

The fourth episode of Conversations That Count – Ngā Kōrero Whai Take takes a look at the role that mātauranga Māori could – or should – play in shaping the future of our country. The principle of cooperation is a crucial one in te ao Māori – as the oft-deployed and co-opted whakataukī states, he waka eke noa. … Read more

Obesity and personal choice: A response to Judith Collins

The National leader’s comments were rooted in political ideology rather than real-life experience, writes South Auckland nutritionist Mason Ngawhika, who believes the health of the community is a collective responsibility. I know virtually no one who is satisfied with their current weight or body composition. Meaning everyone I know is unable to take the personal … Read more

Election 2020: Te ao Māori policies in two minutes

Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what parties are promising on issues that affect Māori. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Te ao Māori is a fairly uneven policy area – the Māori Party lists more than 80 separate policies, … Read more

Finding whakapapa: On parenting, empowerment and te reo Māori

Simon Day didn’t learn te reo Māori as a child. Now a parent himself, he’s passionate about giving his sons the opportunity. My great grandfather, Tom French, was born under a tree at Waipapa marae in Kawhia, overlooking the black sands of the town’s harbour on the North Island’s west coast. As a young man … Read more

Learning to live by the maramataka: Whiringa-ā-nuku

We’ve started this month with the fullness of the Rakaunui moon beaming and guiding us into Whiringa-ā-nuku (October) and Matiti Hana (the second summer phase). The native puawānanga (clematis) bear bright white flowers and kōrero of tākeke (Piper fish) and ngā korowhiti o Tangaroa (leaping mullet) emerge from our tūpuna stories. Maramataka is rooted in … Read more

Te whakamana i Te Tiriti: Ngā akoranga ki te ao pakihi i te ao Māori

Ehara i te mea kua whakaturehia te kawenga kia aro ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi i te rāngai tūmataiti pēnei tonu i te rāngai tūmatanui. Heoi anō rā, e rongo ana te ao pakihi i ngā kura mātauranga ka hua ake i te tika o te mahi ngātahi ki te Māori. Read the English language … Read more

Honouring Te Tiriti: What businesses are learning from te ao Māori

Engaging with Te Tiriti o Waitangi isn’t mandated in the private sector like it is in the public sector. But businesses are discovering the wealth of knowledge to be found through meaningful engagement with Māori. Read the Māori language version of this story here. Embracing te ao Māori represents an opportunity for New Zealand businesses … Read more

Aotearoa is not Middle-earth

One of our finest speculative fiction writers on how the Lord of the Rings fandom is damaging mana whenua.  There are kākā on my porch. They are circling each other, fanning their beautiful green and red feathers. They’ve found the pāua shell my flatmate picked up on the beach last week. It is shiny, so … Read more

After the longest school term in history, now is the time to reset

In the sixth part of a series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Arihia Latham reflects on the life lessons her daughters will take into a new future.  This month we acknowledged te wā o Matariki me Pūanga, the Māori new year. It’s been a year huh. I have heard people … Read more

Read our words: An anti-racist reading list for New Zealanders

While we stand in solidarity with Black and indigenous communities experiencing ongoing violence overseas, we have plenty of work to do here in Aotearoa too. These 10 seminal anti-racism texts by Māori authors are a great place to start. George Floyd’s death as the result of police violence has sparked protests around the world, including … Read more

These are my feathers: An extract from Te Manu Huna A Tāne

Matariki Williams is Te Papa’s Mātauranga Māori curator. In an extract from Te Manu Huna A Tāne, she writes about how honouring the kiwi became a lesson in honouring her own heritage.  This essay has been abridged by Williams and its original title is Into the Void.  There is a photo on my sideboard. It … Read more

What the kiwi can teach us: A review of the brutal, radiant Te Manu Huna A Tāne

This powerful collection of photographs and essays catalogues three generations of Ngāti Torehina ki Matakā learning to pelt North Island kiwi.  Nāu, nā te Pākehā te kurī me te ngeru nāna i huna ngā kai o te motu nei, te weka, te kiwi, te kākāpō, te piopio, me te tini o ngā manu o te … Read more

An iwi-based futures lab is reimagining outcomes for its rangatahi

While many areas of the workforce have been shaken by the effects of Covid-19, a Ngāi Tahu futures lab has been working to give rangatahi Māori the opportunity to decide their own futures. Futurists have thought up myriad strategies for how the world should look post-Covid. For all its hurt, the global pandemic is offering … Read more

How a taiao-based model could lead NZ to sustainable economic recovery

Could a taiao values approach to our economy be the key to bridging the gap between protecting our environment and prospering as people? Dr Amanda Black from the Bio-Protection Research Centre explains how. Aotearoa has been economically dependent on our primary sector for generations. But in this new Covid-19-framed world, that dependence will be magnified. … Read more

This government is not transformational. Neither was its budget

Budget 2020: Although it was called “Rebuilding Together”, it’s hard to see what exactly yesterday’s budget is rebuilding. Budget 2020 was never going to be a transformational budget. Not for Māori. Not for Aotearoa New Zealand. It is easy to understand the disappointment of many across the country who hoped for something more and who … Read more

Two reviews of One Minute Crying Time, a memoir by Barbara Ewing

Linda Burgess and Michael Hurst with quite different takes on a new book by New Zealand-born actress, playwright and writer Barbara Ewing. Michael Hurst This is a memoir very much written from the perspective of the present; evocative, authentic, humorous and poignant. Barbara Ewing approaches her subject via a series of diaries she kept all … Read more

Learning to live by the Maramataka: Poutūterangi

Poutūterangi is a lunar phase, usually around March, marked by the rising of the star of the same name, also known as Altair. It is also the sixth phase of summer, Matiti Rautapata. Poutūterangi shines bright in the sky this month which traditionally indicated a time of harvest. Today during Poutūterangi we see awesome festivities … Read more

Decolonise your body! The fascinating history of Māori and periods

Summer reissue: A lot of knowledge has been lost about traditional Māori attitudes to menstruation, but some extraordinary Māori women are making sure it’s not lost forever, writes Leonie Hayden First published 17 April 2019 Like a bolt of lightning out of the blue it sometimes occurs to me that a thing I’m doing, or … Read more