Taiwan, 2020

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all the people from Maoriland for giving me the great experience of traveling overseas and connecting with other indigenous people through my passion of filmmaking. 

I’m from the Hokianga and that was one thing I would have never imagined I would ever get the chance to do in my whole life. 

Before going to Taiwan I didn’t have a strong understanding of what it means to be Indigenous, but after returning home I have learned that aroha, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga are some of the main reasons that make us as Indigenous people important, and why we can connect with each other so easily because we have similar values.  

Even though there were a few challenges along the way we strived through to reach the goals that we had set. One of the main challenges that stood out to me the most was the language barrier. It took more time than expected for both sides’ thoughts to reach each other, but in the end, we pushed through and overcame the challenge. Also, even though it was only for a short time, that trip has made me more interested to learn more about my own culture and to share the beauty of it out to other Indigenous cultures.

No reira
Ko matou nga tangata taketake
Ka tu kaha
Ka tu maia
Ka tu kotahi