- It’s realising who you are and where you
came from, and just carrying that through your schooling.
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- Being in touch with your culture, but in a
way that means you’re enjoying it, and that success is you doing what you love, and being encouraged
to do what you’re passionate about.
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- I’m really interested in history, but when
I look back and think of the inter-generational hardship our grandparents and our ancestors who are
Māori have had to deal with since the Treaty and the New Zealand wars, that inter-generational
cycle of hardship that they’ve had to overcome and endure, I think how lucky I am and how
lucky we are. We have the opportunity to take on different experiences and can go to school where
there are teachers who are supporting us. That we can be proud to experience our culture, rather
than being punished for it like our grandparents were so long ago. I think how
lucky we are to enjoy success as Māori, and for that success not only to be for ourselves, but for the collective, for our
whānau, for our village.
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- Being down south, achieving as Māori is
empowering, as there are not as many Māori as up north. Achieving down here as Māori in
sports, culture and whatever we do, it gives us more empowerment to be Māori, when we are not
as exposed to our Māori culture as other regions of Aotearoa.
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- One particular teacher, he was quite a big
influence on me. He made me feel proud to be Māori, he encouraged it. He just made people express
themselves more in that area. You’re expressing your Māori culture, and you’re being proud
of your culture. When you have that success and you show that you’re enjoying
yourself and enjoying your successes, that reflects back on to your culture.
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- Being Māori, it’s a way people see you.
When I’ve travelled internationally to compete no one knows who I am, no one knows my culture. It’s
really cool to compete and show them where I come from. I come from a place that’s little. I don’t
have your big cities or multiple coaches around me. I can work off the little things and still make big
things out of it, especially by being Māori - just being able to show that my culture has defined who I am
and where I’m going in life.
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