Toi Māori moving beyond gender TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE SIX | MAHI Ā-RINGA / CRAFT Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor The patience, collective nature, and tactile act of creating with my hands connect me to something larger than myself. In te ao Māori, mahi ā-ringa/mahi toi are not simply artistic practices; they are vessels of whakapapa, preserving pūrākau and carrying

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor I like to think of te hau, the wind, as one of life's first voices. As I close my eyes, I imagine the sounds of Tāwhirimātea singing through the mountainous landscapes of Aotearoa. Breathing mauri through all that te hau touches. From a young age, I have been captivated by th

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC Written by Ivy Lyden-Hancy (she/her/ia) | @tekaraipiture | Contributing Writer There has been a wave of new sounds, aesthetics, and lyricism that is reshaping how we, as a nation, see music. Artists nationwide are stepping into their artistry, showing us what the future sound of Aotearoa is. I am privileged to be in spaces surrounded by these talented artists. People I call my friends and family have shaped how I see m

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Interview with Anna-Leigh Hodge | Te Rarawa, Ngātiwai Interviewed by Skye Lunson-Storey | Arts, Culture, & Te Ao Māori editor Tū Wairua is a Hauora Māori initiative designed, led, and directed by Māori (Rangiwaho, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri) investigating the safety and effectiveness of administering rongoā Māori psilocybe taonga species to whānau suffering from problematic methamphetamine use (PMU). Skye: Can you share a bit about who you

FEATURE | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Ivy Lyden-Hancy she/her/ia |Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wairere, Samoan (Falefā), Tongan (Vava’u) | @tekaraipiture When you cry, we all cry. Intergenerational drug harm within Māori and Pacific families is a collective systemic inequity shaped by colonisation and poverty. Substance use in Indigenous communities is strongly linked to historical trauma and the ongoing impacts of dispossession. For many whānau, drugs become wove

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Skye Lunson-Storey she/they/ia | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Rongoā Māori, traditional Māori healing, is more than medicine. It is a holistic practice grounded in whakapapa, wairua, and a deep connection to te taiao. From native plant remedies to mirimiri and spiritual healing, rongoā has long been central to Māori wellbeing. Today, it continue

FEATURE | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Elise Sadlier (she/her) | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer Illustration by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | @uku_rangi E tōku Whenua, Do you hold a place for me still? My ancestors are pressed into the soft moss of the Mangaoporo Valley I circle home like the Kārearea always swooping, never landing It is the east and you are the sun. I spent a month of my summer this year at home, in Gisborne. While I was there, my friend

TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written By Ivy Lyden-Hancy (she/her/ia) | Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wairere, Samoan (Falefā), Tongan (Vava’u) @tekaraipiture | Contributing Writer Kōkōwai, Whenua, Mauri. When I think about whenua and its connection throughout history, I think of kōkōwai. Kōkōwai carries the colour of papa’s first breath. A deep, iron-rich red that binds Māori to the land, to their whakapapa, and to the pulse of mauri: the life force that threads through a

The tears of Ranginui TE AO MĀORI | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Concrete weeps. Steel remembers. Water carries the weight of what we’ve buried. When rain falls in Tāmaki Makaurau, it carries the memory of wetlands drained, rivers forced underground, and land reshaped by colonial infrastructure. My recent artworks explore these relationshi

ARTS | TE AO MĀORI | TUAKIRI / IDENTITY Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (shethey) | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua: ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past. In an age of disappearing stories and endless scrolling, there’s something radical about ink on paper. It archives. It refuses to vanish. For Indigenous and minority communities in Aotearoa, that permanence has always mattered. Print has histo

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE Written & illustrated by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Editor He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people. I’m struggling to kōrero about the future when global and local events keep driving us further down as a community into the depths of despair. Usually at the end of the year I find myself in a reflec

FEATURE | ANAMATA / THE FUTURE Written by Elise Sadlier (she/her) | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer Rejection. I’ve never been good at it. I spent the summer on the couch, popsicle dripping down my wrist, refreshing Seek and offering up prayers. I had high hopes for the year. I saw each month stretched out before me, clean and full of potential. I fantasized about a working holiday in Bali, a cute gallery job, money flowing into my account. I was finally free from unive

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | HANGA / CRAFT Written & illustrated by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Editor Kia ora e...

KOTAHITANGA | COLUMN | PŪRĀTAU / MYTHOLOGY Written by Hirimaia Eketone (they/them) | @hiri_music | Te Ao Māori Kia ora e hoa ma, haere...

FEATURE | TE AO MĀORI | PŪRĀKAU / MYTHOLOGY Written by Elise Sadlier (she/her) | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer From cosmogony and...