{"id":715,"date":"2023-11-02T14:25:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T14:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/inclusionisinnovation\/?post_type=features&p=715"},"modified":"2025-02-10T18:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:41:10","slug":"i-am-my-marae-my-marae-is-me-ko-au-te-marae-ko-te-marae-ko-au","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/codeofus\/features\/i-am-my-marae-my-marae-is-me-ko-au-te-marae-ko-te-marae-ko-au\/","title":{"rendered":"I am my marae, my marae is me – \u201cKo au te marae, ko te marae ko au\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For Senior Channel Sales Manager Dan, connecting with the local M\u0101ori community allowed him to bridge the two worlds of his dual heritage, M\u0101ori and P\u0101keh\u0101. <\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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I\u2019m from South Taranaki, a region that is home to our maunga (mountain) of the same name in New Zealand\u2019s North Island, approximately halfway between Auckland and Wellington. My mother was born in South Taranaki and her iwi<\/em>\u2014our word for \u201ctribe\u201d\u2014traces our family roots to this region. Before I was born, my mum moved down to Christchurch, with the M\u0101ori Trade Training programme, a kaupapa <\/em>designed to help M\u0101ori become trade qualified in industries like construction, hairdressing, and hospitality.\u202fThere, she met my dad, an awesome man who was born in Christchurch with Scottish and Irish roots.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in the 1980s in Christchurch, a time when the M\u0101ori narrative, what was taught in schools, what was said in conversations, and what was on the news was rarely positive. Things are changing, but in some ways some of those negative perspectives still exist today. Growing up away from the marae <\/em>and from my t\u016brangawaewae <\/em>(my ancestral homeland), I was disconnected from my M\u0101ori identity, my language, and my community. Being half-caste (mixed blood of M\u0101ori and NZ European heritages) also caused me to struggle with my identity even further. I didn’t have an understanding of who I really was. I knew I had a strong disconnection to my taha M\u0101ori<\/em> and an inferiority complex, and that played out in lots of negative ways, including dropping out of high school with no qualifications and falling into some pretty bad spaces. I was facing the wall of colonization that I couldn\u2019t see past, one that I needed to break down.\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was lucky to have a supportive wh\u0101nau:<\/em> parents who helped me through the tough times and supported me to reconnect to who I am, elders who took the time to bring me back, and wider wh\u0101nau (family and friends) who kept me grounded. I now embrace my P\u0101keh\u0101 heritage as well as my M\u0101ori roots. \u202f <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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