NUKU

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 discuss the topic of gender, and she shares the importance of Indigenous terminology when it comes to her community.

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, she has fit a lot of life into her 7 decades.

Dr Jenny Lee-Morgan (Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta, Te Ahiwaru, Chinese) is 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 in Aotearoa.

In this episode she shares her experiences as a Māori-Chinese wahine growing up in Aotearoa. We discuss identity and racism, reflecting on her book Jade Taniwha. We also dig deep into the topic of decolonisation, with Jenny believing it all starts with decolonising our minds.

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 key - reminding us we should be getting eyes checked every two years! We discuss the new health reforms taking place across Aotearoa and Renata shares her personal stories about failure, and how failure is vital for success.

NUKU 078 is Ramari Stewart (Ngāti Awa). She 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 lives within it. She teaches us the power of observation and encourages us to think about succession planning for the survival of our culture. We celebrate a world first with the recent naming of the Ramari beaked whale, the only species in the world named after a wahine. And Ramari reminds us that while her main kaupapa has been whales, there is a lot more to her than the huge mammals that grace our oceans.

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 talks about the choice she had to make between professional netball, and professional golf and we discuss the difficulties of being a Polynesian woman in a male-dominated sport. Phillis also tells us all about her dream to open an academy of sorts to help kids from Aotearoa pursue their college sporting dreams in the USA.

*This weeks podcast episode is sponsored by ITRAFFIC - New Zealand's trusted Traffic Management service project partner. 100% NZ Maori and Pacific owned business with a vision.

NUKU //075 is Awhitia Mihaere (Ngāti Kahungunu). She is a healer, a traditional birther, a tohunga ruahine, and a teacher of rongoā Māori.

Awhitia 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.

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.

This episode is different from any one we have recorded to date. Lusi has different verbal abilities, and so shares her experiences with us using all the tools she has to help her with everyday life. We have a full video of this kōrero at our website to help tell Lusi’s story.

Heather Te Au-Skipworth (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngati Ruanui, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is the creator, visionary and CEO of IronMāori. She started the multi-sport event in 2009 with only 300 people. Today, it boasts events right across Aotearoa with numbers reaching 6000 participants per venue. IronMāori has also become the biggest club provider into Ironman New Zealand.

In this episode Heather talks to us about her inspiration behind IronMāori. She shares her personal challenges and the experiences she has had with whānau who have suffered with addiction. Heather also talks to us about the realities of running an election campaign, and what she wants to change for Māori should she get a seat in parliament at the next election.