Coco Talanoa — Coco News / Page 46

Human Rights advisor-Pasifika for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, Tuiloma Lina‑Jodi Vaine Samu talks about the value of learning te reo Maori for Pacific Islanders.

Why did you think it was important to learn Te Reo in Aotearoa?

Aotearoa is the only place where the dialects of Te Reo Māori can be spoken that are attached to the land, waters and people. The indigenous languages of Kai Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa, Ngai Te Rangi, Tūhoe, Tūwharetoa, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Tainui-Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupouri to name a few belong here!

How long did it take you to learn and how did you do it?

I’ve been learning Te Reo Māori since I was a child aged 3. I am now 50 and have therefore been on a magnificent lifelong journey of learning Te Reo. I have been speaking Māori since primary, intermediate, secondary school and then University to Master’s degree level.…more

He's the flying finisher with the flashing smile making plenty of people sit up and take notice in five games in the big time.

But for promising Panther Brian To'o, that smile masks the despair of losing his little sister to cancer a day before his 10th birthday.

The year was 2008 and To'o was forced to say goodbye to eight-year-old Dannielle, who passed away after a short battle with the dreaded disease.

"It's still fresh to us so it keeps me grounded and focused in life," To'o shares with League Life. 

Rachel Lei shares her adoption story - what it was like growing up after being placed in a permanent foster care family and then finding out specifically that she was half Samoan & half Mexican.

On top of that she was able to meet both of her biological families (Birth Mother & Fathers families) 

Video credit:  Rachel Lei & Afa 

Jason Momoa visits Mauna Kea with his extended family & shares the kupuna and protectors feelings on why they don't want the Thirty Metre Telescope built on Mauna Kea.

"It's not about the telescope, it's not about science, it's about sacred land.  It's about kanaka maoli having the right to determine for themselves how our sacred places should be protected.  Ultimately this is a human rights issue - that we are a real people, we have a real history, we have a real culture, we have a real language, we have a real religion and we need to be recognised as such ...

These are also crown lands that were never ceded to the United States of America, but they were seized, they were taken away - we've never consented to the taking of these lands ..."  - Kaho'okahe Kanuha 

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Leati Joe Anoa'i aka Roman Reigns reflect on getting to work together in Hobbs & Shaw and their amazing family wrestling dynasty.

17 year old Fijian MMA wrestler Tyra Sharma currently trains & fights out of Oliver MMA gym in South Auckland and hopes to qualify for the Youth Olympics next year.
Check out her story here.

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Director - Crystal Vaega 

Camera Operator - Fa'anati Mamea 

Editor - Sapati Apa 

As the indigenous land occupation of Ihumātao hits global headlines, Pania Newton must decide: face down the bulldozers or give up the fight.

Set deep behind the front lines at Ihumātao, Mana Wahine captures intimate access to SOUL co-leader – Pania Newton – in the weeks leading up to what is becoming New Zealand’s most disputed indigenous land occupation.

As the magnitude of the fight ahead and pressures placed on her become all too real, Pania lays bare her personal struggles to find the strength to lead. As the cultural and political unrest reaches breaking point, Mana Wahine provides unique insight into an indigenous issue resonating around the world.

Directed: Corinna Hunziker
Produced: Mia Henry-Teirney

Mana Wahine is part of Loading Docs 2019. 

Hawai'ian actor Jason Momoa visited the TMT protectors at Mauna Kea today.

Jason has been very vocal with his opposition of the Thirty Metre Telescope and his support of the native Hawai'ian protectors over the last few years via his social media.

He visited the site with both of his children and extended Hawai'ian ohana.

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Cover image by KHON2 

"Ihumātao, a west-facing peninsula on the shore of Auckland’s Manukau Harbour, is the city’s oldest settlement. In 1863, the land was illegally confiscated from Māori. Sacred hills were quarried, 800-year-old burial sites were demolished, archaeological remains were destroyed, a sewage-treatment plant was built over traditional fishing grounds, and a dye spill killed the local creek. Now Ihumātao has been designated a Special Housing Area, without public consultation, and a development of nearly 500 houses is in progress. But for some tangata whenua, enough is enough." - From "When Worlds Collide". 

Learn more about the history of Ihumatao and click on the link here to understand why there is a fight to protect this land.

Members of our Pasifika community who went down to support/tautoko the Tangata Whenua and their fight to protect Ihumatao share with us why they felt it was important.

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NOMA SIO-FAIUMU & her husband MATT FAIUMU aka ANONYMOUZ 

- Arts Practitioner (Noma)  Producer/Musician (Matt)

"Matt is a Māngere boy through and through.…more

Pania Newton’s path through life has led her to find her purpose, her kaupapa: protecting Ihumātao. Home to the earliest inhabitants of New Zealand, Ihumātao is a landscape of cultural, historical, and environmental significance. Despite this, the Crown has failed to recognise its heritage values for New Zealand, allowing it to be sold for a proposed housing development.

Realising that the plan meant 480 high-cost houses on the confiscated land, Pania and her cousins created the SOUL Campaign to resist the development. Later with family members and other supporters, she has occupied the land to protect it. Looking deeply into why Ihumātao has not been recognised as heritage worthy of protection in New Zealand, SOUL has uncovered the extent of the bias toward protecting colonial built heritage over sites of indigenous significance - an issue that is seen across the world.

Here Pania tells the story of the fight to #ProtectIhumatao. From a childhood of struggle Pania never focused on the negative, but was fortunate to stay true to her Maoritanga.…more