19/03/2026
I haven't had alot to say lately... but this has been sitting on my heart ♡
NO ONE HAS AUTHORITY OVER YOUR MĀORITANGA
One kōrero that often comes across my table is:
"I DIDN’T GROW UP MĀORI…"
And my first question is always...
How many of us actually did?
Because the truth is… many of our whānau didn’t have the privilege of being raised fully immersed in te ao Māori... either on the marae, in the reo, or surrounded by tikanga every day.
Not because we are any less Māori… but because of the loss, disconnection, history and survival.
My second question is…
WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN "TO GROW UP MĀORI? "TO BE MĀORI?"..
Is it speaking fluent te reo?
Being raised on the marae?
Knowing every karakia, every tikanga?
This is what I know:
To be Māori is not one-dimensional… it holds many tāonga that remind us what it is to be Māori.
For me, I was not brought up as a Pā kid, but I certainly knew what it was to be Māori.
To manaaki ♡ to care for others, to uplift, to give an extension of our arohā.
To connect to and respect the whenua.
To care for and respect our kaumātua… to listen, to honour their presence.
To follow tikanga- take your shoes off before entering a whare, don’t sit on tables, move with awareness and respect.
To heal through the medicines around us: what our Nans/ Koro grew in the garden, what lives in the ngahere, what we already had stored in our cupboards.
To respect the Moana. To give back, to acknowledge, not just take.
To mihi to the Ngahere… to the manu, to the life within it, to find stillness there.
To receive kai with gratitude… to honour what is given.
To gather with whānau, to love music, to feel connection through singing, guitar laughter, and presence.
The feels of the hāngi going down and being lifted but Dad and Uncles.
Remembering feeling the most connected when I felt the most disconnected at school… standing in kapa haka, feeling it in my body, my voice, my manawa...my wairua. Seeing this a generation later, when my quiet 5 year old son did his first Haka..with an inner STANDING..that bought tangi to my eyes. Then seeing my girl karanga her roopu on stage.
When I first saw our Maunga, I knew I was home.
The feeling of the pā, my tūpuna on the wall.
Understanding that I had whakapapa and valuing that, even if it had felt lost… even if I had to go searching… even if I am still finding my way back.
To show up on the marae when I can…spending hours singing, talking and connecting to our tūpuna in the Uru Pa.
Respecting snd honouring the tikanga of tangihanga.
To not be afraid of my tūpuna… but to know they walk with me.
To know our tūpuna walked and still do with spirit. My Grandmothers earliest memory is of her kuia often sitting on the end of the bed talking to spirit- standing at her bedroom door.
This is Māoritanga too.
You are Māori because of your whakapapa..
Not because of the circumstances you were raised.
Not because of how much reo you speak.
Even if you haven’t yet felt your tūrangawaewae.
Even if someone hasn't yet said.. You're welcome here.
No one has the authority to decide whether you belong... or whether you are " Māori enough "..unless of course you hand that authority over.
This isn’t about proving anything.
This is about Remembering… and Re-Calling who you are. All the threads of your whakapapa, the history, the challenges your tūpuna faced to survive. The heartfelt memories you hold in your heart..
I really believe your tūpuna are calling you to remember..
The message is clear.
"Don't get distracted by others...that lets be honest ..have no idea!!! " Who you are"
THE JOURNEY IS YOURS x
Ko koe tēnei. You belong.
💛RESET💜REALIGN 🤎REFOCUS 
