Heemi | New Lynn, Auckland 

“Kia ora tātou, ko Heemi tōku nei ingoa. Te taha o tōku māmā, nō Te Aupōuri me Ngāpuhi. Te taha o tōku pāpā, nō Waikato-Tainui me Te Whānau a Apanui.

Ki a au nei, ko tēnei mea te kāinga, he maha pea ōku kāinga i a au e iti ana. I whānau mai au ki Rotorua. I tupu mō tētahi wā ki Waikato. Arā, i hūnuku atu au ki Te Tai Tokerau, ki Whangārei, i reira tupu ai. Whai muri i tērā ka hūnuku atu ki Pōneke. Nō reira, he maha pea ngā wāhi noho, kei konei hoki ki Tāmaki. Engari, ki a au nei, ko tēnei mea te kāinga, ko te noho tahi ki tō whānau. Ki tōku whānau, arā, ko Māmā, ko Pāpā, ko ōku tēina katoa. Kei reira te manawa, kei reira hoki tōku kāinga, nō reira, koirā pea te kāinga kei a au. Ko te wāhi noho o tōku whānau. Ka taea te whakahoki, te noho hari, te kai tahi, te aha atu i roto i ērā āhuatanga o te whānau. Nō reira, koirā te kāinga ki a au. I a au i te whare wānanga i Pōneke, i Wikitōria, he tawhiti rawa te noho ki reira i tōku kāinga i Te Tai Tokerau.

Āe, engari, ko tētahi akoranga i puta mai i tērā wā, ko te whakahoki ki te kāinga ki te whakahūmarie i a koe anō, ki te kite i ō whānau, ki te kite i te āhuatanga o te Tai Tokerau, o tō wāhi noho me te rerekētanga o ērā taumahatanga ki te nōta, otirā, te rerekētanga i ngā rawa kei Pōneke. Nō reira, koirā tētahi tino akoranga i puta mai i tērā wā me te āhua nei i ako au i te wāriu i te oranga o te kāinga. Nō reira, i pai te hoki atu ki te kāinga, ki te whakakī i tōku ngākau me kī nei, ki te whakakī i ōku pūkenga, aha atu. Nō reira, he maha pea ngā akoranga i te noho tawhiti i tō kāinga. Kei reira hoki te hiahia kia hoki atu anō. Nō reira, koirā ōku akoranga. Ko tētahi wāhanga o tōku oranga, ko te mahi. E mahi ana au hei kaihāpai Māori ki te tautoko i ētahi manatū o te Kāwanatanga. Me pēhea te āwhina i te iwi Māori. Koirā tētahi wāhanga. Koirā hoki tētehi wawata o ōku kaumātua, ko te anga whakamua o tō tātou iwi Māori ki te oranga, ki te pae tawhiti. Ko tērā atu wāhanga o tōku oranga, ko te mahi nakawhiti, ko te mahi whitirau. Whakapakari tinana. Ko te wāhanga whakamutunga, arā, ko tōku whānau. Nō reira, ko ōku tēina. He māhanga tokotoru au. He tuahine anō tōku. Arā ko Māmā, ko Pāpā. Noho kau ana te whānau whānui ki Te Tai Tokerau. Ehara i te mea he tino maha ngā āhuatanga kei roto i tōku oranga. Engari, ki a au nei, e noho tau ana te ngākau i te mōhiotanga, kua kī pai tōku oranga i ērā atu o ngā wāwāhinga. Nō reira, kei reira te katoa o tōku oranga i roto i ērā taha e toru. Koirā tōku.

Translated 

Hi everyone, my name’s Heemi. My mum’s side is from Te Aupōuri and Ngāpuhi. My dad’s side is from Waikato-Tainui and Te Whānau a Apanui. In my view, this thing called ‘home’, I’d say I had a lot of homes when I was young. I was born in Rotorua. I grew up in Waikato for a little bit. Then I moved to Northland, to Whangārei, and I grew up there. After that I moved to Wellington. So, there’s been a lot of addresses, and also here in Auckland. But in my opinion, what home is about, it’s about being together with your whānau, my whānau. In my whānau, there’s Mum, Dad and all of the younger brothers. Where there is comfort, that is my home, so, that’s perhaps what a home is to me. The place where my whānau live. You can return there, be happy together, eat together as a whānau. So, that’s what a home is to me. When I went to university in Wellington, at Victoria, it was a very long way to stay there away from my home in the Far North.

One lesson I learnt from then was you need to take yourself back and humble yourself, and see your whānau, and see Northland, and your home and appreciate the differences between the struggles of living up north as opposed to the lavish lifestyle in Wellington. So, that was an essential lesson I learnt then and I’d say I’ve learnt the value of wellbeing at home. So, it was good to return home, to fill my soul, or rather, to fill myself with knowledge. So, there are perhaps many lessons that can be learnt by living far away from your home. There’s also the desire to return. So, those were things I learnt. One part of my life is work. I work as a Māori advocate and support several Government ministries. How to assist Māori. That’s one part. That was an aspiration of my elders, to see the advancement of our Māori people towards wellbeing, towards a future. Another part of my life is fitness, especially crossfit. Weightlifting. The final part, that’s my whānau. So, there’s my younger brothers. I am a triplet. I also have a sister. There’s mum and dad. The wider whānau live in Northland. I don’t have a lot of things in my life. But, in my opinion, I’m calm because of the fact that my life is full to the brim in every aspect. So, that’s my entire life summed up in those three areas.”