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//100 Karen Matata, educator + marae champion + māmā

Kia ora e te whānau. Today is a very special day, because we celebrate NUKU //100!Through this series we have met and interviewed wāhine right across the motu – the matauranga holders, the frontliners, the carers, the whale whisperers, the teachers, the researchers, the ahi kaa, the boundary pushers, the leaders, the workers, the innovators, the motivators, wāhine who are empowering across generations by being unapologetically themselves.NUKU //100 holds a special place in my heart. It is m...

//099 Dr Acushla Dee Sciascia, mātauranga researcher

Meet NUKU //099 Dr Acushla Dee Sciascia (Ngāruahine Rangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Ātiawa)She is a business woman representing Indigenous perspectives and narratives in research, evaluation and strategy development. Her studies found her researching digital tangihanga long before Covid-19 had arrived, exploring how tikanga in te ao Māori is changing with modern times.In this episode we talk about her mahi and explore the inter-generational kōrero around tikanga, today....

//098 Kurahapainga Te Ua, kapa haka performer

Kurahapainga (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is the founder and artistic director of Hawaiki TŪ, a Māori performance company specialising in kapa haka and haka theatre. She is also a member of the renowned Te Waka Huia kapa haka roopu.In this episode NUKU //098 talks to us about the foundation of haka theatre, she shares her experiences growing up as a child of a gang member and tells us about the realities of trialing for...

//097 Te Raina Atareta Ferris, karanga specialist + kaiako

Te Raina (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Italy) runs education programmes about  Māori culture from her whare wānanga, Kurawaka. Based in Pōrangahau, she teaches wāhine to find their karanga voice, teaching the foundations of karanga and the mātauranga of mana wāhine, mana atua and mana motuhake. In this episode we kōrero about kurawaka, kapa haka and karanga, and get completely immersed in the stories of this wonderful whaea. ...

//095 Geneva Harrison and //096 Mihi Tibble, founders of Tuhi Stationery + maramataka practitioners

We have a special double episode for you, Geneva Harrison (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) and Mihi Tibble (Ngāti Mākino, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Whānau a Hinerupe, Rakairoa, Te Whānau a Karuwai, Te Aitanga a Mate).The friends are the founders of Tuhi Stationery.  They create notebooks, diaries, maramataka resources and other stationery products inspired by Māori language, culture, environment and values. They also have a Sāmoan r...

//094 Dame Hinewehi Mohi, champion of waiata Māori

Dame Hinewehi Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe) has been iconic in the development of puoro Māori for the past 30 years. In 1999, she released her Oceania album and made history singing the national anthem in te reo Māori. Today, she is championing a bilingual music industry for Aotearoa. In this episode we talk about her passion for te reo Māori, she shares the story of Raukatauri Music Therapy Centres inspired by her daughter, Hineraukatauri. And, she tells us a...

//093 Yvonne Thomas, mentor at Auckland Teaching Gardens Trust

Yvonne (Ngāpuhi) is a mentor and trustee with Auckland Teaching Gardens Trust. She supports the community with garden plots, gardening courses and supplying kai to food banks. We recorded this interview in her garden in Māngere, surrounded by manu and the local community tending to their plots. In this episode she talks to us about her upbringing and how society has changed over her lifetime. She shares the importance of growing a garden, not only for sustainability and kai purp...

//092 Andria Dafne Pablo Sanchez, Vee’us Xiuh Janiki Yollotlpactli, revitaliser of Mexican mātauranga

Xiuh, as she likes to go by is of Mexican heritage (Mestiza, Nahua (Mexico)). For years she has worked to revitalise ancient Indigenous practices. Here in Aotearoa she shares temazcal, kinam and tezcatlipoca practices of old central Mexico. She is also a wisdom keeper of ancient Toltec traditions.⁠In this episode Xiuh talks to us about the colonisation of Mexico and she shares how connecting with wāhine Māori challenged and inspired her to refocus her mahi on strengthening Indigenous cultura...

//091 Erin Matariki Carr, kaitiaki

Matariki, as she prefers to go by (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) is the Co-Lead for RIVER (Revitalising Indigenous Values for Earth’s Regeneration) and Co-Manager for the New Zealand Alternative. She is also Project Manager for Te Kaunoti Hikahika (or E Hika!), a constitutional reformation project rolling out across Aotearoa.Based in Tāneatua this phenomenal wahine spends her time supporting both people, and planet, to thrive.In this episode we talk about connecting the global Indigenous communit...

//090 Charmeyne Te Nana-Williams, What Ever It Takes CEO

Charmeyne Te Nana-Williams (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Toa) is the CEO of What Ever It Takes, an organisation using Māori models of clinical practice for whānau affected by complex disability and trauma, as a result of an acquired serious injury.She came into this mahi through her own experience in finding support for her husband who, following a boxing injury, became affected by disability and trauma.In this episode Charmeyne talks to us ab...

//089 Irihapeti Edwards, financial consultant + UN Youth New Zealand delegate

Irihapeti Edwards (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Te Arawa) is an incredible young woman who works across financial services and global youth leadership. Among a number of  accolades, she has been a Prime Minister’s Scholar and UN Youth New Zealand delegate. In this episode she talks about financial literacy and the power it has to transform our communities. She shares her journey into leadership and tells us some of her ambitions...

//088 Tania Page, international journalist

Tania Page (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāi Tahu) is a journalist currently working with TVNZ’s flagship current affairs show, Sunday. Earlier in her career, she was on the team that launched the 24 hour news channel Al Jazeera English.In this episode she shares her career journey, working in news media around the world, and talks to us about some of the heart-wrenching stories she has had to cover in her time as a journalist. ...

//087 Puawai Cairns, museum curator

NUKU 087 is Puawai Cairns of Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga whakapapa, Puawai has held a number of roles across her time at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, including as curator. She is currently Te Papa’s Director of Audience and Insight.In this episode she talks to us about the power of museums and the importance of telling the right stories. She shares some of her favourite exhibitions and how they have impacted both her, and the community she serves, and, ...

//086 Julia Arnott-Neenee, digital equity champion

Julia Arnott-Neenee (Sāmoan, Chinese, British) is the co-founder and director of PeopleForPeople, a youth-led social enterprise on a mission for digital equity. She’s also a strategy and insights specialist with a personal goal to change the statistics around the lack of diversity in the information and communications technology sector.In this episode she tells us about her experience working with industry leaders across the world, the realities of the digital divide and why it was ...

//085 Mary Brown, māmā of 10

NUKU 085 is Mary Brown (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Whātua). Mary is a full-time, stay-at-home māmā of 10 tamariki, all under 15 years old. She is also a champion for financial literacy. In this episode we talk about motherhood and the stereotypes that come with raising a large family. Mary shares her whakaaro on raising the leaders of tomorrow and she tells us how being a māmā has helped her find herself....

//083 Melony Paikea-Tautalanoa and //084 Manawawharepu Udy, social enterprise founders

We’ve got a double episode for your today with Melony Paikea-Tautalanoa (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa) and Manawawharepu Udy (Te Arawa, Mātaatua, Tainui)Mel and Manawa are the founders of Ngahere Communities, a social enterprise championing the potential of South Auckland entrepreneurs, innovators and creators through collaborative spaces, common values and co-designed responsive programmes. In this episode we talk about social impact, business growth and the pair share ...

//082 Phylesha Brown-Acton, executive director + Pasifika whānau ora leader

NUKU 082 is Phylesha Brown-Acton (Fineone Hakupu, Atua (Niue).Phylesha serves Pasifika Rainbow, LGBTQIA+, MVPFAFF+ peoples and their families. She is the Executive Director of F’INE Pasifika Aotearoa, co-founded with Mama Tere Tahere-Strickland. F’INE is part of the Pasifika Whānau Ora Collective and Phylesha’s primary role is to challenge rhetoric and oppressive systems that minimise or have invisibilised her community.In this episode we talk about Phylesha’s upbringing, we discus...

//081 Deirdre Nehua, poet + social activist

Deirdre Nehua (Ngātiwai / Ngāti Hao) has spent most of her life working for positive change for ngāi Māori, challenging the racism and inequities thrust upon our communities as a result of colonisation. She is also a writer and poet. From her involvement in the Maori Land March and land occupations of the 70s, 80s and 90s, to working in prisons, reputedly becoming the first CEO to wear moko kauae and, travelling the world to exchange indigenous knowledge with other first nations people,...

//080 Dr Jenny Lee-Morgan, author + researcher

Dr Jenny Lee-Morgan (Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta, Te Ahiwaru, Chinese) a teacher, author, researcher, māmā and grandmother with Chinese-Māori whakapapa. Jenny has worked as a secondary school teacher and in the community, tertiary and business sectors. Today, she is a professor of Māori research and the director of Ngā Wai a te Tūī, Māori and Indigenous Research Centre, Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaki (Unitec).In this episode she shares her experiences as a Māori-Chinese wahine growing up i...

//079 Renata Watene, optometrist

Renata Watene (Ngā Puhi, Tainui) is an optometrist, and one of very few Māori in the industry. As the director of her own optometry practice that now boasts two locations in Tāmaki Makaurau, and a member of the Waitematā District Health board, she is passionate about improving health equity for Māori, particularly when it comes to eye health.In this episode Renata talks to us about her 21-year-long career. She shares her whakaaro on our health statistics and talks about prevention as k...

//078 Ramari Stewart, tohunga tohorā

Ramari Stewart (Ngāti Awa) is a renowned tohunga tohorā, based in the small village of Ōkārito in Te Waipounamu. She has had a life-long affinity with whales, having learned mātauranga from an early age with her parents and wider whānau. From observing and learning about live whales, to leading the recovery of stranded whales, she has spent decades keeping our customary practices alive. In this episode Ramari shares with us her passion for the ocean, for the taiao and all that li...

//077 Phillis Meti, world long drive champion

Phillis Meti (Arorangi, Rarotonga) is a golf professional and a 3-time World Long Drive champion. In 2006 she became the first New Zealander, and youngest ever, to win the World Long Drive championship. She’s since been smashing records at competition level for more than 10 years. With a career full of accolades, Phillis is passionate about bringing more young Māori and Pasifika women into the sport.In this episode we talk about her early days following her dad around the green. She talk...

//076 Dr Karlo Mila, poet + Mana Moana leadership programme creator

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//075 Awhitia Mihaere, traditional healer

NUKU //075 is Awhitia Mihaere (Ngāti Kahungunu). She is a healer, a traditional birther, a tohunga ruahine, and a teacher of rongoā Māori. She was born on the floor of her whānau home in Tokoroa, guided into te ao Mārama by her grandmother. It was this nanny that nurtured Awhitia’s wairua from that day on.In this episode we talk about her journey and the worlds she walks in. Awhitia shares with us ancient matauranga and encourages us to strengthen our connections with our atua and ou...

//074 Lusi Faiva, award-winning dancer

Lusi Faiva (Patamea, Savai’i Samoa) is an award-winning stage performer and dancer, who has been practicing for the last 25 years. Her heritage connects her to Patamea, Savaii Samoa. Her performance is mainly in the contemporary genre and contact improvisation,  but she also loves to interweave her Samoan culture through siva.Lusi was born with cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, however this hasn’t stopped her from achieving many accolades for her art, nor has it stopped her be...