Sápmi, January 2020

~Tuutawa te mauri o te whenua
Tuutawa te mauri o te wai
He kahuu piitongatonga
Hei raupii waiuu tangata Whenua~

Big mihi to ‘Māoriland, Through our Lens’ for bringing me along this awesome journey to teach Indigenous youth to put their unique stories into film.

I was fascinated about the Sámi culture and the people. We are much alike. They are the ones that stood out for me. And I’m very happy that we got to meet and be around them, I felt I was around ‘real’ people.

And another big mihi to Sunna for supporting and taking care of us all, very much appreciated️. And to Inga and her whole family for honestly everything! 

Very thankful for them looking after us. Big alofas to them. Seeki uce!

The workshop was awesome! Got to meet everyone, taught them our games from home, Pukana & Pako. It was really cool seeing them trying to do the pukana! Bleh! I had soo much fun. I enjoyed being with the children, Ainomaija Mäenpää 13yrs, Aino Huokonen 11yrs, Mitja Saari 12 yrs, Jussa Koskinen 11yrs, Emmi Kantola 11yrs, they’re cheeky. The challenge was the language barrier, lucky there was a teacher ‘Iiris Mäenpää’ who helped translate the korero between me, Luke and the children. The weather.

 I do miss the snow in Inari & Kautokeino, But I love the hot sun and the ocean breeze in the Hokianga.

Ngā mihi nui,
Kate Rennie Wikaire Felise x