"Toi tu te kupu, toi tu te mana, toi tu te whenua"
This proverb was spoken byTinirauofWanganui. It is a plead to hold fast to our culture, for without language, without mana (spirit), and without land, the essence of being Māori would no longer exist, but be a skeleton which would not give justice to the full body of Māoritanga (Māoridom).
An understanding of the Māori world (te ao Māori) embraces an interconnectedness and interrelationship of both living and non-living things. 'Te Hoe Nuku Roa' (Durie, 1995) provides one framework for understanding elements underpinning Māori identity.
Tangata whenua: The people’s relationship with the land (which provides a sense of belonging).
Wairua: Spirituality (which provides a sense of meaning, connection and purpose).
Whakapapa: Ancestral ties (which provide ancestral-based wisdom and appropriate guidelines for living).
Tikanga Māori: Customs (which carry values and cultural practices unique to Māori people).
The 'Koru of Māori Ethics' was developed by Manuka Henare in 1998. The core Māori values of Mana (respect), Mauri (life force), Tapu (sacredness), Io (God), and Hau (essence of vitality) are depicted in the centre of the koru as the founding values that inform the ethical concepts and practices of Kotahitanga, Wairuatanga, Whanaungatanga and Kaitiakitanga.
Tikanga Māori values
Value
Description
What it looks like
Whanaungtanga
A sense of belonging
Getting to know one another
Manakitanga
Ability to extend aroha
Rangatahi helping each other, Tautoko, coaching, awhi-support, active listening, walking the walk, follow up
Kotahitanga
Oneness
Everyone doing the same thing at the same time
Rangatiratanga
Self-governance
Being in control
Mohiotanga
Sharing of information
Building on knowledge
Maramatanga
Understanding
Learning something and how to apply it
Tuakana / Teina
Older/younger relationships
Experienced helping those less experienced
Kaitiakitanga
Guard our taonga e.g. traditional Māori takaro, tikanga, natural resources
Benevolent guardianship – not so much keeping others away, as sharing with reciprocity (giving back)
Whakapapa
Genealogy of the rangatahi, the history of the tipuna and the waahi
Making whānau links in groups. Mihi / Pepeha, learn and share, whakapapa of taonga takaro, place names, waka, connections
Wairua(-tanga)
Spiritual wellbeing
A sense of wellbeing. A connection to whenua, ngahere, moana, maunga, awa
Tikanga
The placing into practice that which is correct
Understanding rules and boundaries and what is right thing
Hakari
Celebratory feast
Sharing of kai, Whakawhanaungatanga
Atuatanga
Paying respect to nga Atua
Karakia, knowing & respecting the realms of each atua and their roles in our everyday lives. Learning around Nga Atua Māori and the roles they play in te Ao Māori
Indigenous knowledge has value
The power of Kawa, Tikanga, and Kaupapa to provide answers to today's problems - By Curtis Bristowe, TEDxRuakura.
00:15
ignore mondo in Mario en la cara
00:19
Netanyahu who own our home where fart
00:21
Enoch although there no clue though a
00:23
yachtie who who might our Tokugawa
00:26
indigenous knowledge has value
00:29
indigenous knowledge has with most
00:32
importantly indigenous knowledge can
00:34
provide answers and offer solutions to
00:37
contemporary problems by the end of my
00:40
talk you will have a glimpse into the
00:43
understanding of why and so my story
00:46
begins at the Chatham Islands the
00:51
Chatham Islands are a group of islands
00:52
that lie roughly six hundred and eighty
00:55
kilometers southeast of mainland New
00:57
Zealand they are known by the mauryas
01:00
for air cody and by the indigenous
01:01
peoples of these islands the moriori as
01:04
a vehicle who and scale the Chatham's
01:09
are roughly half the size of stewart
01:11
island and a home to around six hundred
01:13
people of European Maori and moriori
01:16
descent the landscape of the Chatham's
01:22
itself is quite spectacular a mixture of
01:25
volcanic Peaks flat swamplands lagoons
01:28
and sandy beaches but to the uninitiated
01:32
the Chatham's is also coldly unforgiving
01:35
vastly deforested for sheep and cattle
01:38
farming there are few places of shelter
01:40
the weather changes quickly and Bower
01:43
trees pay testament to the strong
01:45
southerly z-- that lashed the land and
01:47
turn the sea upon visiting the Chatham's
01:51
our Chatham Islands it is easy to
01:53
understand how a solitary and isolated
01:56
location provided the perfect
01:58
destination for the New Zealand
02:01
government to exile and imprison its
02:03
enemies for what is not widely known or
02:06
widely recorded in the history of our
02:08
country is that in the 1860s the New
02:11
Zealand government utilized the Chatham
02:13
Islands as a penal facility to which
02:16
they exiled and imprisoned without
02:18
charge or trial more than 300 mouldy men
02:22
women and children who they had
02:23
classified as rebel
02:24
or in rebellion against the crown now
02:28
these people were not just stripped of
02:30
all lands and positions but they were
02:33
exiled from their country of birth and
02:35
was here on the Chatham Islands without
02:37
hope of escape that they were imprisoned
02:40
indefinitely now why I share their story
02:44
with you now as that their story is my
02:47
story my great-grandmother was just a
02:50
young girl when she was taken from her
02:52
home to imprisonment on the Chatham
02:54
Islands along with their parents and her
02:57
younger siblings and it was there that
02:59
you would eventually lose her mother and
03:02
her younger sister our oral tradition
03:05
still speaks of the arrival of the
03:07
prison bars the Chatham Island shores on
03:09
a cold and wet winters morning and how
03:13
the prisoners arrived to no food and no
03:15
shelter as the government of the time
03:17
had deemed that these very essentials
03:20
the prisoners must provide for
03:21
themselves and so in the wit and the
03:24
rain and the cold they built makeshift
03:26
shelters of fern fronds and scavenge for
03:29
food to feed themselves and their
03:31
children now in hindsight it is not a
03:34
leap of the imagination to understand
03:37
that through reasoning of the
03:38
imprisonment that they had been
03:40
imprisoned to die at this place but like
03:44
so many stories of our people dying was
03:47
something my ancestors refused to do
03:49
they survived despite everything they
03:53
survived and when I first visited the
03:56
Chatham Islands in 2011 and stood at the
03:59
place that my ancestors had lived and
04:01
died they will wash with emotion this
04:04
was the question which plagued me in
04:05
particular how did they survive how did
04:09
they survive a hostile environment to
04:11
which they were unaccustomed and
04:13
ill-prepared how did they survive the
04:16
brutality of a 17th century British
04:19
penal system how did they survive the
04:22
beatings the floggings the rapes the
04:25
forced hard labor malnutrition and
04:27
illness that claimed so many of their
04:29
lives what beliefs and values did they
04:32
draw upon to survive and the darkness of
04:35
their imprisonment now it was in
04:37
contemplation
04:38
of this question and others that I came
04:41
to certain specific cultural
04:42
understandings understandings of the
04:45
principles I believe my ancestors
04:47
utilized to survive their imprisonment
04:49
and principles which still have
04:51
contemporary application and can
04:53
contribute towards positive change in
04:55
our lives and in the lives of others but
04:59
firstly to understand these principles
05:01
we must understand their source now my
05:07
ancestors look to the natural world than
05:09
our environment as the greatest teacher
05:12
they did this in the central
05:14
understanding that their environment
05:17
that surrounded us had evolved over
05:18
billions of years and was operating in a
05:20
state of perfection all we needed to do
05:24
was to watch and observe and incorporate
05:26
those teachings that was them their
05:29
truth into our lives in doing so my
05:32
ancestors created unique knowledge
05:35
systems knowledge systems based upon the
05:38
natural flows and rhythms of our
05:40
environment knowledge systems which
05:42
place collective and spiritual
05:44
well-being ahead of individual and
05:47
material need one such example was found
05:51
in the flight of the cuckoo now the
05:55
Kuato is renowned as having the longest
05:57
flight path of any bird on the planet
06:00
flying from Alaska to alter or New
06:03
Zealand every year covering more than
06:05
17,000 kilometres and flying nonstop for
06:08
eight days without food without water
06:11
without rest without sleep now the
06:15
flight of the cuota has brought
06:17
international scientific inquiry to our
06:19
shores focus specifically are born how
06:22
such a small and inconspicuous bird
06:25
accomplishes such a monumental task now
06:30
when my ancestors look to the caca they
06:34
observed that it flied in a v-shape
06:36
formation which they named takahe they
06:39
also observed that a singular bird leads
06:41
this flop which they named the man who
06:43
took ether karwa or the leader of the
06:45
flock but most importantly my ancestors
06:49
recognized that this leader does not
06:50
lead for the duration of
06:52
flight well rather wind fatigue sits in
06:55
this boy bird falls back and another
06:57
bird rises to that place of leadership
07:00
their position of leadership
07:02
therefore my I are my ancestors
07:04
understood that the co-worker does not
07:07
reverse immense distances based upon the
07:10
strength the will the drive of the one
07:12
but the collective strength the
07:15
collective will the collective vision of
07:17
the whole through examples such as the
07:22
flight of the Karaka my ancestors
07:25
defined three distinct principles
07:27
principles that enabled our people to
07:30
collective ice to unify for common goal
07:33
in common purpose the first of these
07:37
principles and most important is common
07:40
core may be defined in this instance as
07:43
the guiding philosophy the collective
07:46
aim the communal goal that dream that
07:49
vision you aspire to achieve for those
07:53
prisoners on the Chatham Islands this
07:55
was merely survival to survive the
07:57
brutality of their imprisonment this was
08:01
the vision their collectivized them this
08:03
was the goal that unified them this was
08:06
their light in their darkness and a
08:09
contemporary context Khoa may be the
08:13
well-being and prosperity of your father
08:15
your family it may be social or
08:17
political change but whatever it may be
08:20
Kawa is where the deep thinking must
08:22
take place for this philosophy will lead
08:25
and guide every aspect of practice and
08:28
endeavour that follows and without a
08:30
clear and defined vision you were lost
08:32
from the beginning the fit second
08:37
principle is tequila tequila may be
08:40
defined in this instance as the practice
08:43
which supports the guiding philosophy at
08:46
the core of Qigong our collective
08:49
beliefs and values collective beliefs
08:52
and values of which my ancestors had
08:54
meaning
08:59
collective beliefs and values are
09:01
vitally important because they inform
09:03
attitude and behavior and ensured that
09:06
whatever endeavor was undertaken it was
09:08
undertaken in an ethical and moral way
09:11
collective beliefs and values were
09:13
vitally important for those prisoners on
09:15
the Chatham Islands for though they were
09:17
from different tribes they shared this
09:19
common knowledge base so when they
09:21
engage with their skills and the
09:23
abilities they engaged the same way in a
09:26
contemporary context we all understand
09:29
how easier it is to accomplish a goal
09:31
when the people you work beside believe
09:34
the same things value the same things
09:37
aspire towards the same things the third
09:42
principle is Co papa Co Papa may be
09:46
defined in this context as the
09:49
utilization of these beliefs and values
09:51
for specific endeavor for those
09:55
prisoners on the Chatham Islands this
09:57
was merely the everyday struggle for
09:59
survival food shelter clothing medicine
10:04
perhaps in a contemporary context that
10:06
is not too dissimilar but what must be
10:09
understood is that every endeavor
10:12
undertaken must contribute towards the
10:15
guiding philosophy and though I have
10:18
discussed these principles in isolation
10:20
it must be understood that they operate
10:23
in unison and seamless unison and the
10:27
intangible bond which connects them all
10:29
as way to a thong spirituality or the
10:32
power of the spirit my ancestor
10:35
spirituality was based upon the
10:37
centrality and sacredness of life itself
10:40
that all life had value that all life
10:44
had Worth and most importantly that we
10:46
were connected to all life through a
10:49
multitude of universal kinship ties and
10:52
a contemporary context the spirituality
10:56
of connection may be understood as a
10:58
deeper feeling or understanding one has
11:01
when one is focused and mind and body on
11:04
a specific endeavor an endeavor which
11:06
takes us out of ourselves and connects
11:08
us to others ideals causes movements
11:13
you momentum this feeling this
11:15
understanding as a spiritual connection
11:18
and so these are the principles I
11:20
believe my ancestors utilized to survive
11:24
their imprisonment principles which
11:26
teach the importance of being unified in
11:29
mind body and spirit to accomplish any
11:31
great deed and this is but one example
11:35
one example of thousands of examples
11:38
held within our indigenous knowledge
11:40
answers which are knowledge which offers
11:43
answers solutions and alternatives to
11:47
contemporary problems and I believe that
11:49
now now more than ever our world is in
11:52
need of solutions and alternatives and I
11:55
believe that this is an awakening a
11:56
realization that is happening globally
11:59
as globally people are realizing that
12:03
the systems put in place by the dominant
12:05
powers are broken systems they are
12:08
corrupted systems there are systems that
12:11
have caused global economic poverty and
12:15
inequality global environmental
12:17
degradation in exploitation globally
12:21
people are realizing that the answers to
12:23
these problems cannot be found in the
12:25
same knowledge that created them and
12:27
this is where indigenous knowledge has
12:29
value this is where it has worth because
12:32
it is founded upon different principles
12:34
principles which favor connection rather
12:37
than isolation which favor protection
12:40
rather than exploitation principles
12:43
which offer change principles which
12:46
offer hope now of course there will be
12:49
those that question the value of the
12:52
knowledge that I have shared their
12:53
question the worth of its contemporary
12:55
application and in response to these
12:58
doubts what I failed to mention at the
13:01
beginning of my talk was that my
13:03
ancestors goal was just not to survive
13:05
their imprisonment it was to escape
13:08
their imprisonment and in July 1868
13:13
after nearly three years of imprisonment
13:15
led by the MALDI warrior prophet Ducati
13:18
Araki Donita to Turkey the prisoners
13:21
arose in unison subduing the prison
13:24
guard and commandeering
13:26
supply shove the rifleman and despite
13:29
the brutality to which they had been
13:31
subject there was no violence
13:33
there was no arson there was no looting
13:36
there was no retribution of any kind and
13:39
three days later on the 17th of July
13:44
1868 the riflemen anchored in the
13:51
sheltered Cove of 40 or more of the east
13:54
coast of the North Island carrying in
13:57
its hold and on a stick
13:58
297 elderly men women and children their
14:04
entire prison population of the Chatham
14:07
Islands our oral tradition speaks of how
14:10
the prisoners live from the long boats
14:13
to the shore
14:14
weeping increasing the land as if a
14:16
long-lost loved one they never hoped or
14:18
dreamed that they would see again but
14:21
they had returned United in mind body
14:24
and spirit they had survived their
14:26
imprisonment they had found their
14:29
freedom and most importantly they had
14:32
accomplished it together no one was left
14:35
behind now at the beginning of my talk I
14:39
said that this was my story but this is
14:41
not just my story this is our story for
14:45
this is but one of the many threads that
14:47
make up the fabric of the collective
14:49
history of our country and my ancestors
14:52
struggle and sacrifice for justice and
14:55
for freedom it deserves to be
14:57
acknowledged it deserves to be
14:59
remembered and we are no less or are
15:02
people of a people or a country for
15:04
having done so for an acknowledgement of
15:07
our past its symbols and intend for the
15:10
prison and encapsulate our collective
15:13
hopes dreams and desires for the future
15:18
so in the closing of our story I would
15:22
like to share with you the words of my
15:24
ancestors whose teachings and wisdom I
15:28
have drawn upon throughout my ancestors
15:31
who stand here in spirit with me now
15:34
these are their words the words of the
15:37
past to the generations
15:40
the prison HECO putahi top Italia
15:45
heretonight filling are you filling our
15:49
Anita 40i a day Fatiha
15:53
we are born of the same womb tied in the
15:57
bonds of humanity tied to the heavens
16:00
above us tied to the earth beneath us
16:03
these are bonds that can never be
16:05
severed from this life into the next we
16:10
have but one family moreda right a Papa
16:15
wanna not Iommi here paranoia to a
16:17
Makita kawaru ha Tenakee avoid wear a
16:20
tow hitch watch her on a Mahima taqwa
16:23
cooing a Mahima Takako Kyoko Tod Moreira
16:26
occur on a Serie Tina puta tena puta who
16:29
you know who Donato Tata for a euro he
16:33
we my Tata Tata
Mana: The power in knowing who you are
Providing an historical, contextual discussion of Māori identity in the context of treaty settlements, collective identity, connection to the land and iwi - By Tame Iti, TEDxAuckland.
00:00
Transcriber: Ah Shin Park Reviewer: Amanda Zhu
00:14
This is my mountain,
00:17
Maungapōhatu.
00:20
This is my river, awa Ōhinemataroa.
00:26
This is my marae,
00:29
Te Rewa Rewa.
00:33
This is Ruatoki, where I was raised.
00:36
This is Ruatoki,
00:40
set in the valley at the mouth of Te Urewera,
00:44
our native forest
00:46
in the middle of North Island of New Zealand,
00:50
twice the size of Auckland,
00:53
25 times bigger than New York.
00:58
It is the ancestral home of my people,
01:03
Ngāi Tūhoe.
01:05
It is also known as Ngā Tamariki o te Kohu,
01:10
or 'the Children of the Mist'.
01:15
As a boy, I was raised by my grandparents
01:20
and spoke only Māori, like almost everyone in Ruatoki.
01:27
In our language,
01:28
we have this word that is very important.
01:33
You might have heard it before.
01:35
This word is 'mana'.
01:39
Everyone in this room,
01:42
everyone in this room has some form of mana.
01:47
Your mana,
01:48
your mana comes from knowing who you are,
01:52
where you come from
01:54
and your connection to your land,
01:59
whenua.
02:01
Mana grounds you.
02:03
Mana makes you solid.
02:07
Mana bridges you to your past, present and future.
02:14
We don't always have to agree.
02:16
Mana can be tested, even challenged,
02:19
but with respect and an understanding of one another's mana.
02:27
We are all equal.
02:29
We are all the same, on the same level.
02:32
Kanohi ki te kanohi tāngata ki te tāngata.
02:38
Eye to eye.
02:42
So school was a confusing time for me.
02:46
The rules and the regulations
02:49
didn't make sense at all, you know.
02:53
When I was eight,
02:55
the whole school was called to assembly.
02:58
And the headmaster got up and said,
03:01
'I will not allow you to speak Māori on my school grounds.
03:10
So if you continue to speak Māori,
03:13
you will remain after school and be punished.'
03:18
So I turn to my mates:
03:20
(Māori) 'I'll boil your head!'
03:22
'The hell is he on about?'
03:24
(Chuckles)
03:25
So we thought that was dumb, stupid.
03:30
So we wanted to test his mana,
03:34
so we disobeyed him
03:36
and spoke Māori to see what would happen.
03:40
We were given the choice of picking up horse manure
03:45
or ...
03:46
or ...
03:48
write 'I will not speak Māori'
03:52
a hundred times on the blackboard.
03:56
I must have written it a thousand times,
04:00
a thousand times,
04:02
and started to smell like a horse.
04:06
I did learn English.
04:09
But you know when you learn a new language
04:12
and pick up the swear words first?
04:14
(Laughter)
04:15
(Chuckles) That was us.
04:17
'Dickhead',
04:19
'bugger',
04:20
'shit stirrer'.
04:22
(Laughter)
04:25
At home, I learnt about my tīpuna -
04:29
ancestor, mountain, the river -
04:35
why these things are important to the mana of Tūhoe.
04:41
But at school,
04:45
I learnt 'Hey, Diddle, Diddle! The cat and the fiddle.
04:49
The cow jumped over the moon.'
04:51
(Laughter)
04:53
So Te Reo Māori comes from the sound of the birds.
04:58
I speak the same language as the tui,
05:01
as the kiwi bird.
05:06
Could the headmaster stop the bird from speaking the language too?
05:14
Don't be afraid to challenge someone trying to assert authority over you.
05:22
Just because someone has authority
05:25
does not mean that they have more mana.
05:31
If someone is asserting their authority,
05:35
they have to let go of respect and understanding to get their way,
05:41
and you are no longer equal.
05:48
Sixteen, going to Christchurch,
05:52
it was another kind of learning, education
05:56
to discover what's going on around the world:
06:02
people questioning authority about all kinds of things -
06:06
woman's liberation,
06:09
anti-apartheid,
06:11
the Vietnam War,
06:14
socialism and the rights of the working class.
06:20
I started to hear the story from other culture
06:25
that sound like old Tūhoe stories,
06:31
stories about stolen land, community displaced,
06:38
story about police brutality,
06:44
story about military rule.
06:48
I started to meet new people -
06:51
Māori, Pacific people, Pākehā -
06:55
standing against these things,
06:58
and they inspired me.
07:00
These were not just Māori issues;
07:05
they were global issues with global movements.
07:11
And in this time, I learnt the art of protest and political activism:
07:17
occupy their space so they can't avoid you,
07:21
draw attention to the issue, and then make them uncomfortable,
07:27
make them face you, and make your voice be heard.
07:32
If mana can be tested,
07:35
then you may have to prepare to defend it.
07:39
No one can tell you that you are not important
07:43
and that your experience does not matter.
07:47
And if they do,
07:49
I challenge them to say it to your face,
07:53
where they can see your eyes and feel your breath.
07:59
(Exhales)
08:02
Kanohi ki te kanohi tāngata ki te tāngata.
08:06
Eye to eye.
08:10
You have to keep the pressure on,
08:14
keep reminding people of the things that they would rather forget.
08:18
We had to constantly remind the Crown
08:22
that we were here and we're not going away,
08:28
that we needed to have a proper, you know, kōrero,
08:30
a conversation,
08:32
about the stuff that had gone down with our tīpuna, our ancestors.
08:38
I remember when the Crown went around the country,
08:43
they talk about the fiscal envelope.
08:47
This was the government offering amendment on the settlement on historical grievances
08:54
before they had even heard any claims.
08:59
I decided to make a counter offer for the return of our land -
09:06
my nephew's horse blanket.
09:12
But, when I arrived, this is what I saw:
09:17
The Crown sitting on the stage looking down at us.
09:24
We were not eye to eye;
09:27
we were not on the same level.
09:31
So, what this short-arse Tūhoe do when we're being talked down to?
09:36
(Chuckles)
09:37
(Laughter) (Applause)
09:40
He borrow a ladder.
09:44
Hey bro, can I borrow your ladder?
09:53
(Laughter)
09:54
This is the Honourable Doug Graham listening to my submission.
09:59
(Laughter)
10:02
This is Doug Graham taking my blanket.
10:09
Four years later,
10:13
here is the horse blanket,
10:15
hanging in the office of the Treaty Settlement in Wellington.
10:21
They had taken my blanket, frame it
10:24
and hung it on the wall as a piece of artwork.
10:29
(Laughter)
10:31
They had my blanket, but they still had the land.
10:36
So four years later,
10:38
what does a Tūhoe do when someone steals his horse blanket?
10:42
(Laughter)
10:47
He sent an invoice.
10:48
(Cheers) (Applause)
10:55
An expensive one too.
11:01
So it wasn't really because I wanted the money,
11:04
not at all.
11:05
I wanted to remind the Crown that until this was resolved,
11:11
they still had a debt to Tūhoe
11:13
and we are not going away,
11:16
just like this,
11:22
or this.
11:26
This is the Māori language petition, Hana Jackson, 1972.
11:33
The Māori Land March, Dame Whina Cooper, 1975.
11:40
Bastion Point, Takaparawhā, Ngāti Whātua,
11:44
1978.
11:47
The Springbok Tour, 1981.
11:53
The anti-nuclear campaign, 1985.
11:59
These are some of the political social movements
12:02
that have shaped the identity of this country,
12:07
not just because they had political opposition at that time,
12:13
but because other than eye to eye,
12:18
contrary to the realisation,
12:21
that the mana of the people
12:24
is equal to that of any authority.
12:29
So after 170 years of struggle -
12:35
(Applause)
12:40
So after 170 years of struggle,
12:44
of fighting for the mana of Tūhoe,
12:49
we finally got respect and understanding from the Crown.
12:54
We got this.
12:58
(Video) Mr. Finlayson: The Crown unreservedly apologises
13:01
for not having honoured its obligations to Tūhoe
13:06
under Te Tiriti o Waitangi
13:10
and profoundly regrets its failure
13:12
to appropriately acknowledge and respect te mana Motuhake o Tūhoe
13:18
for many generations.
13:21
(Applause)
13:30
Tame Iti: History has woven us together.
13:34
We are the basket, te kete, that holds the future.
13:40
We must acknowledge each other in this space,
13:46
right here in this space,
13:48
Kanohi ki te kanohi tāngata ki te tāngata.
13:53
Eye to eye.
13:55
(Māori) Rock on the mountain,
13:57
the Mataura River harbor,
14:01
the courtyard of the Rewa Rewa is white,
14:05
people are Tūhoe.
14:07
Thank you.
14:10
Thank you.
14:12
Thank you.
14:15
(Applause) (Cheers)
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Some Māori have a strong sense of place in te ao Māori while others may feel their identity is less strongly connected to their Māori heritage, or they're disconnected from this world. It’s never too late to begin exploring your heritage further.
If you would like to explore these questions yourself, or to learn more about te ao Māori, contact your nearest Maori Cultural Advisor, Kaumātua or Marae.
