As our te ao Māori podcast Nē? concludes its first season, hosts Leonie Hayden, Meriana Johnsen and Te Kuru o te Marama Dewes look back on a year that’s given them a lifetime of inspiration. 

The brief was to make a podcast about being Māori in the modern world. 

From reo reclamation, to ikura, to iwi identity, to the repatriation of kōiwi, planting and harvesting in accordance with the maramataka, Māori performing arts, and much more, it’s fair to say that in just 25 episodes we achieved what we set out to do. 

The conversations have had a transformational impact on those of us involved in the podcast. We hope our listeners gained as much knowledge and inspiration as we have. These are some of our favourite episodes of the season.

Leonie’s pick: Te Awa Atua

The whole idea for a podcast was orchestrated by Leonie Hayden, who put the proposal to NZ On Air and approached Meriana Johnsen and myself to join her as panelists. 

“We’ve been lucky to be surrounded by these people who devote their lives to te ao Māori, to making the world a better place for all of us,” Leonie says. 

After the initial few episodes, Leonie took the courageous leap to study te reo in full-time immersion at Te Wānanga Takiura, and gracefully offered to share the hosting responsibilities with Meriana and myself – which we humbly accepted. 

Across all the episodes, Leonie says a highlight for her was the Te Awa Atua episode with Ngahuia Murphy. “I have gone back to that kōrero a bunch of times, in moments when I’ve got my īkura (period) and I’m mamae and annoyed – she’s helping me relearn what it all means.” 

The episode also featured guests Ataria Sharman and Qiane Matata-Sipu, and the panel discussed ikura, the first wahine, feminine deities and “the secrets the colonisers didn’t want us to remember”.

“When you’re craving starchy food and you’ve got a hottie on your tummy you don’t feel very atua-like, but there’s something so comforting about that kōrero every time I hear it,” says Leonie. 

The episode also articulated a topic that Meriana had been craving knowledge about. “I’m so hungry for knowledge about the whare tangata and how this works, how to frame it, how to connect it back to our tīpuna,” she says. 

Meriana’s pick: Hākari and the art of the feast

Formerly a journalist with RNZ, our Nē? co-host Meriana Johnsen also spent much of this year studying rūmaki reo at Te Whare Wānanga o Raukawa. 

Reflecting on her experience, she says, “When you start this journey, you’re thinking about you, it’s all self-conscious, it’s all about, ‘How good am I? Will I ever be matatau?’ And as you go along the journey it stops being about you and becomes about your whānau.”

Her favourite episode was Hākari and the art of the feast with Casey and Karena Bird.

“Hearing about how, despite where they’ve arrived in their careers as world class chefs, they’re still challenged back home at the marae, how they’re still down the pecking order because the aunties are still at the top,” Meriana says. 

That episode had a tremendous impact on Leonie as well. For her final one-hour presentation at her rūmaki reo course, she says she channeled Casey and Karena Bird and chose to do a cooking show entirely in te reo. “I remembered they were talking about a reo Māori cookbook – I made a mini cookbook to give out to my classmates, so now I’m like, ‘I’m just like them!’”

This shows how much influence the series has had on its hosts; beautiful, positive experiences that have inspired and shaped us. 

Te Aihe’s pick: Meriana and Leonie’s first reo Māori podcast

One of those positive constants throughout this podcast has been Te Aihe Butler, our producer and podcast manager. You may recognise his calming voice from some of the podcast advertisements and our panel went to extreme lengths to ensure he was able to join the final episode as a panelist. 

For Aihe, the standout episode was the Mahuru Māori special, Meriana and Leonie’s first reo Māori podcast.

“As someone who is early on his reo journey, I looked to [Leonie and Meriana] as an example of where I could be in the future… where I also take the leap to undertake a rūmaki reo experience,” he says.

Observing the growth of his colleagues over the course of the year has had a significant impact on his own motivation to study te reo. “After the record, it was like I’d seen the Black Ferns win the World Cup. I was legitimately overjoyed… I can only hope to achieve that level of confidence, that level of ability and courage in my own reo journey,” he says. 

Te Kuru’s pick: Who’s at the door?

The dedication of our guest speakers to their various kaupapa, aimed at bringing value and ultimately improving the experience of Māori in Aotearoa has been exceptional. 

My own highlight was the kōrero with Hōhepa Thompson (Hori), in the episode Who’s at the door?

Auraki challenges those within mainstream media to take stock of their own awareness around te ao Māori. It is a response to the way in which Māori continue to be portrayed negatively by many in the media.

Accessible through the Hori app, the AR-based project aims to support staff to further their understanding of te ao Māori. Combining new tech and kaupapa Māori is a win-win. 

The other standout speaker for me was Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, in the episode Full moons and green thumbs. 

As we navigate the climate crisis and overconsumption, this kōrero with Maipi-Clarke shows us the potential for a future of homegrown communal gardens within a cultural framework. 

It’s not a goodbye forever, it’s a ‘mā te wā’

Our panel was fortunate to be able to share these stories with our listeners in the hope that they may be as inspired as we’ve been. The podcast now holds a treasure trove of insights that will be available to generations to come. 

“There’s a good chance we’ll come back to this space once we’ve had time to think and deliberate and collaborate some more,” says Leonie. “It’s not a final goodbye, it’s just a mā te wā.“ 

Nē? has provided a platform for Māori voices to be heard, for te reo Māori to be normalised, for Māori issues to be dissected and for Māori stories to be told from a Māori perspective. Those are all things we need more of.

Listen to every episode of Nē? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.