Tangimoe | Ōpōtiki, Bay of Plenty

“I have currently been working on this street for 28 years. I’ve seen every walk of life that’s come through my doors of Tangata Whenua. At the moment, we’re campaigning for the Māori Party that is trying to get into Parliament, and we’ve set up an op-shop right next door to my one, so we can run them both, and support in any way we can.

Every day on the street, I come in contact with different people. I think the most interactive I have been has been with my tino rangatiratanga and yet, still working hand in hand with the Pākehā of this community, for the betterment of society. 

During the Covid lockdown, because we weren’t an essential shop, we started mixing more online with whānau, regardless of whether they’re Māori or Pākehā. For a community like this to survive, we must be tight. So, unlike most cities, here in Ōpōtiki, you just need a little sign with a hand going like this every day, because you know every person on the street. It’s great. I love it. I love Ōpōtiki. Proud to be Whakatōhea, and working on the street, and being in the middle of this street for 22 years it’s pretty cool as a Māori retailer.

For me, as a Māori woman in business, I’m naturally going to back all Māori initiatives. So, for me, the Māori Party, we need to have our own voice at the table in Parliament. The days of allowing the dominant Pākehā parties to rule really have gone, but we have to start by developing. We don’t get funded. So, it really is the common person, the common worker that will push our people through into Parliament. If we don’t sit at the table, we will always be dominated by other races who will dictate how we, my people, have to live.

Because small parties don’t get funded, and because we want to have that voice, I’m in a position, in a privileged position of owning my own business, so we thought, how can we utilise my business to assist in raising funds for the Māori party?  So, we’ve had an exhibition, and at the same time I have the vacant shop next door to me, so I just put up a thing on our local community site, asking for donations. So, everything that we have has been gifted by the community, and although they mightn’t stand on the front line of trying to make our people go into Parliament, they will do it in subtle ways such as bringing in clothing and knickknacks, and we’ve done very well. And our exceptional landlord, they’re always willing to support your kaupapa because I’ve been in that shop for such a long, long time, and have probably proved my worth.

My message would be to believe. Believe. Believe in you. Believe in me. Believe in us.

I was raised in Oponae. That’s between Ōpōtiki and Mātāwai. I went to a private boarding school, Queen Victoria in Parnell. It’s been closed for many years, now. I’m very active in our Māori community, as well as the extended community. Very committed to the growth of our world, here. I’m a nan. I have three moko, one daughter.”