Who has changed your life?

Ty | Pōneke

While exploring her whakapapa after the death of her father, Ty (Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki, Taputimu, Fai’a’ai, Nofoali’i) learned about the legacy of her koro Puti Tipene Watene, an MP in the 1960s. 

In exploring my whakapapa, exploring my identity, I have been so grateful to have discovered my own tipuna, my koro, Puti Tīpene Watene.

He was actually a Māori MP right here. He was an advocate for ao Māori, for our tangata whenua, for our employment rights and for our welfare. And he was also a staunch rugby league player too, which is pretty cool. But that gene missed me, so all good, kei te pai.

And so he’s been someone who has been at the forefront of a lot of the mahi that I get to do and have the privilege of doing.

A beautiful part of my whakapapa is that I also come from Samoa. And we have a proverb in Samoa that says, “O le ala i le pule o le tautua” — “The pathway to leadership is through service.”

And my koro, he actually spent right up until his last breath in Parliament. And that’s where he, he sadly passed inside the Cabinet Chambers.

And for me, that is such a symbolic way to understand that for Māori, we serve right up until our last breath, whether it’s here, whether it’s out in the regions, whether it’s out in our marae, and on our haukāinga. Whether it’s even at home looking after our elders as well.

And so for me, being able to reflect on the work that my koro has done, it’s given me strength and it’s given me so much purpose and understanding that whatever space that I’m in, if it’s paid or if it’s unpaid, the service is still incredibly valuable.

And as long as it can help provide equity and bring equity to our communities, then it would have all been worth it.