“It wasn’t until the birth of my twin boys nearly five years ago that I truly understood what comes with that. Because with them, I saw whakapapa for the first time— all the people that were required to come together for them to exist, and then all the potential that comes after them.

That gave me this really powerful sense of opportunity to give them access to their culture from the very beginning of their life. It’s been really amazing watching them grow up in places like kōhanga reo, feeling really familiar on marae, and seeing how that changes their sense of who they are in relationship to Aotearoa.

You know, they stand at four years old so strong in their awareness of who they are and who this country is as well, which I think is a really beautiful thing. At the same time, they’re teaching me about who I am and where I fit into Aotearoa.”