Nearly one quarter of all Māori live in the Auckland region, far away from their iwi. Many have no connection to their whakapapa, and only about one-fifth can hold a conversation in Maori - with increasingly fewer young people among that number. So where is home for them?
When I think of a Kiwi I think of someone who is mixed race. Whether that’s half Pakeha, half Maori, or part Tongan. That’s just the norm now. And I think that’s a good thing about New Zealand. Most people are very accepting.
Mother-of-one Sarah Babbington, 20, is what people call “urban Māori”. She has ties to Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu and Ngāti Porou iwi, but lives in Auckland.
Like many urban Māori, she has two homes. The first is her mother’s house in west Auckland. “Home is this house. We've been here the longest. It’s the people who are here, so I think wherever my family, like my mum and my son Noah, is – that’s home."
Home is where she shares good food and music with her family, but her turangawaewae is Masterton, where she was born. Although she hasn’t been there for over a year, she always feels welcome. “It’s like going to another home,” she says. “It doesn't matter how long I haven't seen them; it’s always the same.”
Sarah loves seeing her family and she says there’s always a bit of a party when she’s there. “When I’m in Masterton with my Māori family, I get to be Māori. It’s the only opportunity I get to hear about my culture.”
Though Sara always feels welcome at her turangawaewae, she will always return to Auckland. “I kind of like the anonymity,” she says.
“When you go back to a place as small as Masterton, everybody knows your family and things tend to get around quick. You can pick who knows what in Auckland.”
Despite being born and bred in New Zealand and being Māori, she is part of a large group of people who have missed out on learning their own language and culture. “The other day, I had to ask my mum what the word turangawaewae (standing place) meant,” she says. “And I know lots of people who don’t even know their iwi. They just know they are Māori. That's how lost it is to some people.”
Sarah and her fiancee Tonga. Photo: Unknown
Sarah worries that her son Noah will miss out on learning his own culture, and won’t learn family songs and kapa haka. She blames her situation on living so far away from her Māori family, but she also says it’s because of a choice made by her father.
“My dad told me our language was frowned upon back in the day. They weren’t allowed to speak Māori. Now I wish we could get it back, but once it’s taken away it’s hard.”
Sarah’s dad also didn’t want her or her sister to go to kohanga reo. “He had a bad experience and didn’t want me to have that. I guess it kind of robbed me and my sister of learning about our culture.”
Her childhood, she says, was typically Kiwi, with summers spent camping and swimming. Pohutakawa trees and jandals are symbols she classes as being ‘of New Zealand’, as well as Wattie’s tomato sauce – but she’s not a fan.
Sarah believes most people think the typical Kiwi is a laid back, do-it yourself kind of person, but she doesn’t feel she fits that mould. "That isn’t me. I can be laidback sometimes, but now that I’m a mum it’s not really working out for me.”
She fits her own idea of what makes a New Zealander. "When I think of a Kiwi, I think of someone who is mixed race, whether that’s half Pakeha, half Māori, or part Tongan. That’s just the norm now. And I think that’s a good thing about New Zealand. Most people are very accepting.”
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