Miriama Aoake

Contributing writer

Miriama Aoake (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Mahuta, Tainui) is a fulltime student and writer advocating for Māori issues.

Ātea
Oct 6, 2019

Making sense of Tuia 250 through Barry Barclay's prescient work

Miriama Aoake delved back into Barry Barclay's book Mana Tūturu: Māori Treasures and Intellectual Property Rights, in which the filmmaker reimagines Captain Cook's landing in Aotearoa if cameras were present. 

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Music
Aug 27, 2018

Maioha Award finalists: fearless navigators negotiating ever-shifting tides

The five finalists of APRA's Maioha Award were announced today. We looks at the final five and their place in the future of te reo Māori.

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Music
Apr 9, 2018

Diversity materialised: JessB’s Block Party, reviewed

This weekend, Miriama Aoake attended JessB's Block Party, an event which celebrated both the release of JessB's debut EP and women of colour in New Zealand hip-hop.

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Music
Mar 8, 2018

Taite Music Prize finalists: where are the artists of colour and without guitars?

Miriama Aoake looks at the Taite Music Prize finalists and asks: Why are most of the finalists white? And why do they nearly all have guitars?

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Ātea
Feb 10, 2018

It’s time to start decolonising our media

Every year the media turns a problematic spotlight on indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand for Invasion Day and Waitangi Day. This won't change while our media is still controlled by the coloniser, writes Miriama Aoake.

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Ātea
Dec 19, 2017

A Māori at the British Museum

Currently studying abroad, Miriama Aoake is coming face-to-face with international museum ethics and the exploitation of tangata whenua for taonga.

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Ātea
Oct 30, 2017

Why the Declaration of Independence still matters

As well as being the official NZ Wars commemoration date, October 28 is celebrated by Northland iwi for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that recognised Māori sovereignty, explains Miriama Aoake.

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Politics
Aug 7, 2017

Jacinda Ardern is no Helen Clark – and for Māori, that’s a very good thing

Jacinda Ardern's first week as Labour leader has brought a flood of admiring comparisons to Helen Clark. But Miriama Aoake argues that the comparison is false, largely because Ardern has proven far more engaged with the concerns of Māori than the far more cynical Clark.

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Music
Jul 5, 2017

Wait – is Jay-Z good again? 4:44, reviewed

Miriama Aoake listens to Jay-Z's new album 4:44 and finds the rapper full of introspection, self-criticism and, ultimately, black empowerment.

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Music
Jul 2, 2017

What the Northern Bass lineup announcement says about electronic music’s diversity problem

Miriama Aoake reacts to the male-dominated lineup announcement for dance music festival Northern Bass.

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Music
May 22, 2017

What a time to be alive: Five reasons to love Future

Future is coming to New Zealand! Futurehive member Miriama Aoake breaks down why you should be as excited as she is.

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Music
Mar 9, 2017

‘He’s outperforming himself at a level matched only by Beyoncé.’ Why Future is the future of music

Futurehive member Miriama Aoake guides you through the world of prolific rapper and chart history-maker Future. Nearly eight months has passed since Future’s last release, Project ET: Esco Terrestrial, a project …

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Society
Jan 24, 2017

Think Māori can’t be racist? Jimi Jackson’s blackface stunt proves otherwise

When a brown-skinned man darkens his face and jokes about being black, that's colourism – the belief that people with dark skin are inherently inferior to those with lighter skin – in action, writes Miriama Aoake.

Read on.

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