Rerun: Shilo Kino on reclaiming her indigenous identity

This is a rerun and extended edit of an episode published in March 2021.
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Challenging the status quo and being the representation you want to see can be a lonely uphill battle. Shilo is an author and journalist who is of Ngāpuhi and Tainui iwi and she on that path to breaking down existing narratives and heavily entrenched racism against Māori in New Zealand through her storytelling.

In our conversation, we talk about our early days as graduate journalists at The Manukau Courier, Shilo's time in Hong Kong as a missionary, confronting racism while working in Tauranga, writing and releasing her first book and how she is feeling ahead of her year-long full-immersion Te Reo Māori course.

Language notes:
1. "iwi" means "people" or "tribe".
2. "Aotearoa" is the Māori name for New Zealand.
3. "Pākehā" means a non-Māori New Zealander, generally of European descent
4. A marae is a meeting ground and focal point of Māori communities, incorporating a carved meeting house, Te Wharenui. It's where the community gathers for celebrations, funerals, and other important events.
5. "Kaumātua" are tribal elders and help to preserve traditions and pass knowledge down to younger generations. They are highly revered.
6. "Mana" is kind of a tricky term to understand fully through words only. In Māori, it refers to an intangible force found in people and objects. It underpins everything and to have mana means to have spiritual power, authority, identity and respect.
7.  "Waka" means "canoe", but in the context of this episode, the word is used metaphorically to mean "journey".

You can support and follow Shilo's work through her Instagram account and Twitter, as well as her column at Newsroom. She is documenting her Te Reo Māori journey through her own podcast, Back to Kura. Her book is The Pōrangi Boy.

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