Pagan Karauria (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa) started woolhandling when she was just 15. Today, she has not only made a career of it, she is also an international champion, winning competitions in Aotearoa, Australia, the UK and Europe. Two summers ago she also ticked off a shearing goal with 402 sheep shorn in 8 hours. She has won accolades in this division too, at national and world champs winning the women’s shearing final in 2019 and coming second in 2020 competition, while carr...
Jun 08, 2021•45 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Dr Ani Alana Kainamu (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Kōtirana - Glaswegian) is an environmental researcher within Te Kūwaha, the National Centre of Māori environmental research at the National institute of Water and Atmospheric research. She is also a māmā of two kōtiro. This amazing wahine completed a double degree in Zoology and Māori studies before achieving a Masters in Marine Science, and then a PhD in Environmental science looking at local and Indigenous values of shellfisheries. Her ma...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 8Ep. 3
When I first read an online bio for Dr Erica Newman it stated her whakapapa as Māori, and then in brackets, ‘iwi unknown’. It has to be one of the most powerful, yet painful, identifiers I have ever read. The lecturer in Te Tumu: School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous studies at the University of Otago, recently received a Marsden Fast Start research grant to journey with descendants of Māori adoptees in their search for their tūrangawaewae. It is a journey she knows intimately, as the daughter...
May 25, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Georgia Latu (Kai Tahu, Ngāpuhi) is the 14-year old C.E.O behind Pōtiki Poi. A pakihi that makes, sells and distributes poi and earrings, while sharing mātauranga Māori. Her business has environmental and social values at its heart, using op shop and second hand materials, with biodegrading plastic, and employing people with diverse abilities from Cargill Enterprises. In this episode we talk about the inspiration behind Pōtiki poi, Georgia shares the realities for juggling kura and mahi, and she...
May 17, 2021•51 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Te Ao Kapa (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Wai, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou) started with Te Kaha O Te Rangatahi Indigenous Youth Hub at age 18, filing paperwork and helping in the office. Today, 12 years later, she has just been made the organisation’s CEO. Her mahi is to support rangatahi navigate their way to becoming their own champions of positive change. In this episode we talk about Te Ao’s career journey. From her role as a rangatahi sexual health peer support worker, to a stint as general manag...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 7Ep. 10
Kyla Campbell-Kamariera (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Taranaki Tūturu) is the Waikato Students' Union President and a member of the University Council. Currently completing her masters degree, focusing on Indigenous leadership, she has a passion for politics, history and wāhinetanga. Her journey has at many times been very straight forward, with her love of education and her drive to succeed both academically and creatively. At other times, she has faced challenges many of us could never comprehend;...
May 04, 2021•59 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Dr Ngahuia Murphy (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana, Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rangitihi) is a mana wahine, kaupapa Māori researcher recovering ancestral knowledge that heals and empowers Māori and other Indigenous whānau. The author seeks to recover living relationships with our atua wāhine and helps to facilitate that for others through her research, ritual, wananga and dance, as a medium of ceremony. In this episode we talk about the divine feminine, about our whare tangata, ou...
Apr 27, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Loretta Lanauze (Imi Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāi Tahu) calls Rēkohu Chatham Islands her home. She lived there with her whānau until, like most teenagers on the island, she had to move to the mainland for her high school education. While many leave the island for schooling, few return to live permanently. Loretta however is one wāhine who has come back to Rēkohu where she is raising her beautiful daughter, looking after the whānau homestead and whenua, working as a chef, training to become a fir...
Apr 20, 2021•56 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Kaai Silbery (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tainui) is the founder of Go Wild Apiary, Chatham Islands Freeze Dried Honey. Also working as the head chef at Hotel Chatham, she is passionate about wild foods, endemic plant species and, of course, her bees. In this episode we travel to Rēkohu, Chatham Islands, to kōrero with Kaai about her unique honey product and how it is gracing the menus of restaurants across the world. We also talk about her journey to becoming a chef and how a carved pou ...
Apr 13, 2021•54 min•Season 7Ep. 6
As a 35 year old Māori woman some of my greatest pain, sadness, whakamā and frustration comes from my journey with te reo. Like many, I didn't grow up with te reo Māori as my first language and over the years I have searched for it in school, at night classes, through wānanga and with whānau. Recently I have yet again opened the books to continue my efforts in becoming fluent in my own language. Following on from the kōrero with NUKU //063 Stacey Morrison, she flips the microphone on me to share...
Apr 06, 2021•56 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Most of us know NUKU //063 through her extensive career on our screens and airwaves. Stacey Morrison (Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa) is a māmā, writer, facilitator and tutor. She is a veteran broadcaster, television host and consultant. She is also a passionate champion of te reo Māori and is an ambassador for the breast cancer foundation. While Stacey has raised her three tamariki with te reo Māori as their first language, she herself did not learn until adulthood. It was in fact, her third language. In ...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Tania Pouwhare (Ngāi Tūhoe) is a manager in local government for Community and Social Innovation, testing radical challenges and opportunities that enhance the mana of our people, particularly those that have been left behind by the economy. Her mahi spans both grassroots and systems levels, directly affecting those farthest from resources, power and influence. In this episode we talk about her time in the UK and her formative years working for women’s rights organisations. The self-professed fe...
Mar 30, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Darna Appleyard (Ngāti Pāoa, Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Te Whakatōhea, Scottish) spent much of her childhood in Tasmania. It was there across the ditch she learnt first hand about some of the hardest things she’d have to face in her life, from racism and inequality, to family suicide. This self-described ‘equity challenger’ works to disrupt the distribution and programming of health resources to achieve health equity for Māori. In this episode we talk about her childhood and the time whaea Eva Ricka...
Mar 23, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Kura Paul-Burke (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo) is a Māori marine ecologist, scientific diver and trans-disciplinary researcher with extensive pragmatic knowledge combining mātauranga Māori and Western science to assist co-developed kaitiakitanga. As well as her role as an associate professor for Mātai Moana with the University of Waikato she works with rangatahi to teach freediving and has spent much time dedicated to the restoration of mussel beds in Ōhiwa harbour. In this episode we talk about t...
Mar 16, 2021•1 hr•Season 7Ep. 1
Julie Paama-Pengelly (Ngaiterangi - Te moutere o Matakana) describes herself as a practitioner of political identity activism through the teachings and practice of mahi toi, predominantly Tā moko. Living and working in te rohe o Tauranga Moana, her studio is a space that nurtures a diverse group of creatives. Julie was one of the first wahine kai tā of modern times, working, sharing, learning, and leading in a very male-dominated space. In this episode we talk about her journey with tā moko, the...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Maata Wharehoka (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Kuia) started her working life as a nurse. Her mahi in health saw her write the first stop smoking programme for Māori women and, she led wāhine in cervical screening programmes on marae. She later found her niche in marae at Parihaka Pā and championed marae arts, raranga and karanga. In 2015 she won the Creative New Zealand Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka award recognising her lifetime contribution to the arts. Maata’s many ...
Mar 02, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Tuhi-Ao Bailey (Ngāti Mutunga, Te Ātiawa, Taranaki) is a kaitiaki dedicated to our Taiao. The Parihaka pā trustee supports hapū, marae and Māori landowners with water, fish and flora monitoring, as well as riparian planting and pest control. She is a passionate climate change champion and gardener who has helped set up maara and tree nurseries with a number of roopu, while also incorporating Indigenous planting practices into her own backyard. She is known to many by her Pākehā ingoa, Emily. How...
Feb 23, 2021•57 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Veranoa Hetet (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Ātiawa) is a master weaver and one of our country’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Although, the humble wahine from Waiwhetū cringes when you describe her as that. Veranoa is an uri of renowned weavers and teachers, her grandmother, the late Dame Rangimarie Hetet and her mother, the late Erenora Puketapu-Hetet. As well as her aunty, the late Diggeress Te Kanawa. She says being surrounded by art, and having parents as masters of their ar...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Laura O’Connell Rapira (Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahine, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whakaue) is a community organiser, campaigner and writer. She started her career organising events, before moving on to charity fundraising. However, she got pulled into a different direction when she started RockEnrol, a youth-powered campaign to get more young people out to vote. In 2014 she joined ActionStation and became their director. Since then, she has worked with communities nationwide around steps towards econ...
Feb 08, 2021•55 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Awatea Mita (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Porou) is a justice advocate speaking out for equitable outcomes in the criminal justice system. She is also a passionate advocate for Indigenous rights. Her current advocacy projects are around repealing the Bail Amendment Act 2013 and increasing the use of restorative practice alternatives to harm. Much of this drive came as a result of her own 22 month incarceration in 2015 and seeing first hand the vulnerability and strength of our wāhine Māori under puniti...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Maia Mariner (Ngai Tai, Samoa) is the founder of Lazy Sneakers, a not-for-profit organisation that collects and redistributes reusable sneakers for free. Maia is 15. She came up with this idea at 12 and has enabled tamariki to participate in sports and other activities, right across Pōneke and around the country, with a simple pair of shoes. From size 18-plus basketball kicks, to a styley pair of chucks, this kōhine is changing lives. In this episode Maia gives us an insight into what it’s like ...
Jan 25, 2021•51 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Tiffany Witehira (Ngāpuhi) is reputedly the only Māori fragrance developer in the world. She runs the only Māori owned and operated perfumery in the world, Curionoir. From making fragrances, to collaborating with like-minded artisans, she loves to curate experiences that tie in all our senses. From her hand-blown glass bottles, to the hand poured perfumes that evoke an array of memories, every element of her business and being is thoughtful and personal. In this episode we talk about her journey...
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Dr Kelly Tikao (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu) is a Māori researcher, Nurse, māmā, and self-described dabbler in the creative fields. Based in Ōtautahi, she became interested in customary birthing practices following her cousin’s experience with home birth. She began implementing some of those practices into her own birth experiences with her children, and progressed into a Masters and then PhD on the kaupapa. In this episode we talk about hapūtanga, birthing, story and liberation....
Jan 11, 2021•54 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Today we celebrate the halfway mark of the NUKU 100 with a very special NUKU //050. Linda Aumua (Fijian) is a passionate advocate for educational equity for Pacific people’s in Aotearoa. She is also the māmā of our videographer, Taylor. Linda has worked in community development and as a teacher, director and senior policy analyst, transforming lives through access and success in education from preschool to tertiary both here and in Fiji. In this episode we talk about the power of education, Lind...
Nov 16, 2020•58 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Hana Tuwhare (Ngāpuhi) is a community activator and speech language therapist. She works alongside whānau, kaiako, iwi, early education centres and organisations to help create rich oral language environments for our pēpi in the first 1000 days. She recognises the links between language, culture and identity, putting a focus on mātauranga Māori through her mahi to support young tamariki to thrive as thinkers, learners and readers who, are also grounded in who they are. In this episode we talk ab...
Nov 09, 2020•55 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Ema Tavola (Dravuni - Fiji, Pākehā) is an artist-curator which she says mostly involved her being an arts manager, advocate and hype woman of Moana Oceania arts and culture. She is the Director of Vunilagi Vou, an independent exhibitions gallery and consultancy in South Auckland. She is also a māmā to her daughter, Lanuola. Born in Fiji and raised in the UK and Europe as an ambassador’s daughter, she has lived through a civilian coup back in her homeland before finding a second kāinga and settli...
Nov 08, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Lizzie Dunn (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Te Arawa) is on a mission to help people learn Indigenous languages through technology. The founder of Lingogo is doing so through her passion for storytelling, creating dual-language e-books. Having a background in publishing and, working with NZ Film Commission, Lizzie used her experience to create the digital start-up in a new industry. The business hustle isn't always easy, but when you are driven by kaupapa, it is always worth it. In this episode we talk abo...
Nov 04, 2020•47 min•Season 5Ep. 6
NUKU //045 Rebecca Davis (No Ngāti Hei, Ngāti Porou ki Harataunga, Ngāti Tamatera Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) is a change agent, and NUKU //046 Stevie Davis–Tana (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa) is a powerful spoken word poet and youth worker. The mother-daughter duo are creating impactful change right across Aotearoa. Through Rebecca’s impact strategy mahi transforming communities and organisations, to Stevie’s creative ventures empowering our rangatahi, the ...
Nov 01, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Maruhaeremuri Nihoniho (Ngāi Tahu, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou) spent much of her childhood beating high scores on the spacies machines at her local fish and chip shop. That childhood pass time turned into a passion, as Maru became the founding CEO Metia Interactive, developing and producing games for multiple platforms. She uses games to tell Indigenous stories, and her passion project Guardian Maia, is an action-adventure game that explores te ao Māori with a wahine toa, lead character. In...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 4
We travelled to Te Tauihu to meet NUKU 43 Kerensa Johnston (Ngāti Tama, Ngāruahine, Ngāti Whawhakia). She is the CEO of Wakatū Incorporation, which has about 4,000 owners who descend from whānau and hapū of Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua rohe. Kerensa has worked as as a solicitor in the private sector, a Barrister and, as a legal academic where she specialised in Māori legal development, public law, land law and international law. She was part of the Nelson Tenths Reserves and Occupation Reserves ca...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 3
