Kia ora e te whānau. Today is a very special day, we celebrate NUKU //100!  Through this series we have met and interviewed wāhine right across the motu - the matauranga holders, the frontliners, the carers, the whale whisperers, the teachers, the researchers, the ahi kaa, the boundary pushers, the leaders, the workers, the innovators, the motivators, wāhine who are empowering across generations by being unapologetically themselves.   NUKU //100 holds a special place in my heart. It is my honour to introduce you to my māmā, this 100th wāhine is a reminder to us all that we will come across so many inspiring wāhine on our journey, from all over the world in all walks of life, but we must never forget those who make us who we are - our mothers, our grandmothers, our aunties, our sisters, our daughters. Meet Karen Matata (Te Waiohua, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Arorangi (Rarotonga), Temakatea, Oneroa (Mangaia) Karen has been an early childhood educator for more than 40 years. She has worked for her marae, Makaurau, as secretary for more than 25 years, and holds governance positions across education and community groups in Tāmaki Makaurau. In this episode we talk about her Māori girls boarding school experience, she shares her perspective on single motherhood and sharing her eldest daughter with her parents to raise, we discuss the power of education and talk about the reality of working for your people.

Meet NUKU //099 Dr Acushla Dee Sciascia (Ngāruahine Rangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Ātiawa)  This incredible wahine is a business woman representing Indigenous perspectives and narratives in research, evaluation and strategy development. Her studies found her researching digital tangihanga long before Covid-19 had arrived, exploring how tikanga in te ao Māori is changing with modern times. In this episode we talk about her mahi and explore the inter-generational kōrero around tikanga, today.

Kurahapainga (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is the founder and artistic director of Hawaiki TŪ, a Māori performance company specialising in kapa haka and haka theatre. She is also a member of the renowned Te Waka Huia kapa haka roopu. In this episode NUKU //098 talks to us about the foundation of haka theatre, she shares her experiences growing up as a child of a gang member and tells us about the realities of trialing for one of our country’s top kapa haka groups.

Te Raina (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Italy) runs education programmes about Māori culture from her whare wānanga, Kurawaka. Based in Pōrangahau, she teaches wāhine to find their karanga voice, teaching the foundations of karanga and the mātauranga of mana wāhine, mana atua and mana motuhake. In this episode we kōrero about kurawaka, kapa haka and karanga, and get completely immersed in the stories of this wonderful whaea.

We have a special double episode for you. NUKU 095 and 096 are Geneva Harrison (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) and Mihi Tibble (Ngāti Mākino, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Whānau a Hinerupe, Rakairoa, Te Whānau a Karuwai, Te Aitanga a Mate).  The friends are the founders of Tuhi Stationery. They create notebooks, diaries, maramataka resources and other stationery products inspired by Māori language, culture, environment and values. They also have a Sāmoan range. In this episode we talk about the realities of small business. The pair share with us their personal stories of growing up with grandparents who lived according to the maramataka and tell us how they are helping to revive our connection to our lunar calendar system.

Dame Hinewehi Mohi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tūhoe) has been iconic in the development of puoro Māori for the past 30 years. In 1999, she released her Oceania album and made history singing the national anthem in te reo Māori. Today, she is championing a bilingual music industry for Aotearoa. In this episode we talk about her passion for te reo Māori, she shares the story of Raukatauri Music Therapy Centres inspired by her daughter, Hineraukatauri. And, she tells us about her dream to see Aotearoa musicians record in both languages.

Yvonne (Ngāpuhi) is a mentor and trustee with Auckland Teaching Gardens Trust. She supports the community with garden plots, gardening courses and supplying kai to food banks. We recorded this interview in her garden in Māngere, surrounded by manu and the local community tending to their plots. In this episode she talks to us about her upbringing and how society has changed over her lifetime. She shares the importance of growing a garden, not only for sustainability and kai purposes, but also for learning some of life’s greatest lessons.

Xiuh, as she likes to go by is of Mexican heritage (Mestiza, Nahua (Mexico)). For years she has worked to revitalise ancient Indigenous practices. Here in Aotearoa she shares temazcal, kinam and tezcatlipoca practices of old central Mexico. She is also a wisdom keeper of ancient Toltec traditions. ⁠In this episode Xiuh talks to us about the colonisation of Mexico and she shares how connecting with wāhine Māori challenged and inspired her to refocus her mahi on strengthening Indigenous cultural knowledge and practice.

Matariki, as she prefers to go by (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) is the Co-Lead for RIVER (Revitalising Indigenous Values for Earth’s Regeneration) and Co-Manager for the New Zealand Alternative. She is also Project Manager for Te Kaunoti Hikahika (or E Hika!), a constitutional reformation project rolling out across Aotearoa. Based in Tāneatua this phenomenal wahine spends her time supporting both people, and planet, to thrive. In this episode we talk about connecting the global Indigenous community, the whakaaro behind constitutional reformation and why each of her sisters carry the name of our most popular star cluster.