NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Kahu

Kāhu ki Rotorua: Wāhine weaves together intimate stories and photography

Roimata Mihinui
By Roimata Mihinui
Kāhu ki Rotorua·Rotorua Daily Post·
20 Apr, 2023 05:20 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wāhine weaves together intimate stories and photography.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Whiria te kaha tuamakaita e motu, honoa

Ko Wāhine he kaupapa nui whakaharahara e tōtō mai ana i ngā tātai kōrero me ngā whakaahua mana nui ki a kotahi mai,whaihoki e tū nei hai waka kawe i te reo o ngā wāhine katoa o Aotearoa.He kaupapa whakakotahi i te hāpori ki te titiro, ki te haupūaroaro, ki te wānanga hoki i ngā tini taumahatanga me ngā wikitoriatanga o ngā tau huhua nāna i whakaāhua i te kaha me te pakoko o te wāhine.Kai ia pikitia, kai ia whakaāhua he tātai kōrero. He pepeha nui, he kōrero rangatira e hāngai pū ana ki tāu e kite atu ai. Ko ētehi kai te kāinga, ko ētehi kai te marae, ko ētehi kai he anoa atu e noho ana.

He kaupapa hakoke i te motu tēnei. Ka tae ki rohe kē atu ka pōwhiringia he wahine ki a uru mai ki te waka. Ki Rotorua nei, kua karangahia a Ngamonu Huata. He uri nō Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Rangiwewehi me Ngāti Whare).’ He aroha nui ki te iwi. He aroha nui hoki ki ngā iwi katoa o tēnei motu engari anō taku whakahīhī ki taku mana motuhake. He ahakoa tēnei kōrero kaha, e pūare ana taku manawa ki ngā iwi kē atu. He mana tō tēnā iwi. Hai aha noa atu te hē me te tika, ko te mana ki a rātau, ā, ko te mana ki a tātau me ngā ritenga o tēnei takiwā'. Hai tā Ngamoni.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Ngamoni Huata (nee Gardiner) is an accomplished weaver, piupiu maker, who is also a kapa haka judge.
Ngamoni Huata (nee Gardiner) is an accomplished weaver, piupiu maker, who is also a kapa haka judge.

He wahine ruku kapa a Ngamoni. I whānau i Te Whakarewarewa, otīā he wahine mātau ki te raranga hoki. Ko Whariki tōna matua wahine, he mātau hoki ia ki te raranga.

He mōhio hoki ki te mahi piupiu. He pēnā tonu ia ki ngā wāhine katoa o Te Whakarewarewa, ko ngā whaea katoa he mōhio nō rātau ki te mahi piupiu, ki te poi, ki te whatu me te taniko hoki hai awhina ki te kawe i ngā nama o te kāinga.

He tū kapa haka hoki rātau. Nōnā e taitamariki ana ka noho a Ngamoni i Waikato-Tainui. He wahine rangatira ki te raranga. Ko tētehi o ōna kahu mō ngā tupapaku anahe ka tau ki Wāhiao.

He kaupapa kai te tiakina e te pahi nō Whakatū. Kai ngā atatū he wā tātai kōrero me te whakawhānau-ngatanga. Kāore he nama.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He kore utu. E tūwhera ana ki ngā tangata me ngā reanga katoa. Ka tu ki Ngā Mareikura i Te Whakarewarewa. Ka timata ā te tuaono o Mei tae ki te kotahi o Hune.’ Me tae a tinana te tangata e mātau ai tōna wairua ki te ihi me te wehi o ngā wāhine e whakahuri ai tōna titiro ki tea o whānaui’. Hai tā Dr Jay van der Reijden,PhD Archaeology. Whakatū.

—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori

English Translation

Weaving together intimate sound stories and powerful portrait photography, Wāhine is an immersive multi-media arts exhibition that amplifies Māori women’s voices around Aotearoa.

Wāhine offers communities an opportunity to come together, to be enriched and inspired by these raw, honest and vulnerable stories – stories that touch on the joys and inspirations, the troubles and tribulations, and the resilience that has moulded these wāhine into the women they are.

The deeply personal words of each interview are woven together from real-life recordings captured by the women themselves and accompanied by portraits taken at each woman’s home, marae, or their chosen location.

As it travels around Aotearoa, Wāhine expands at each new location, inviting a wāhine from a local iwi to join the kaupapa and hold space for the other women.

Here in Rotorua, Ngamoni Huata (Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao, Tūhoe, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Whare) is joining the kaupapa.

“I think it’s the love of people, appreciating different cultures. So even though I’m proud of mine because that’s who I am, this is what I am!

“But I’m also open to other people too.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Members of Ngamoni Huata's family.
Members of Ngamoni Huata's family.

“They all have their own. And it’s not about right or wrong, this is just the way they do things, and this is the way we do things,” said Ngamoni. A penny diver, Ngamoni was born and raised at Whakarewarewa and has been weaving since she was young, helping her mother Whariki. That was making piupiu.

Most of the Whakarewarewa women, including my mother and her aunts, made piupiu, poi and tāniko to supplement their husbands’ incomes.

They also performed on the concert stage.

Ngamoni, a superb exponent of haka, spent most of her adult life in Waikato-Tainui.

She is a beautiful weaver and made kākahu for use at tangihanga in Wahiao.

Facilitated by the Nelson-based creators of Wāhine, the workshop offers a morning of storytelling and connection, drawing on the exhibition’s kaupapa and bringing in some knowledge and stories in Te Ao Māori.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This free to attend workshop welcomes all (ages 16+), will be held in Ngā Mareikura, Whakarewarewa – The Living Māori Village.

The exhibition runs from May 6 to June 1.

“This is one of the very few exhibitions that you experience within a lifetime that has the ability to entirely change your life,” said Dr Jay van der Reijden, PhD Archeology, of Nelson.


Save

    Share this article

Latest from Kahu

Politics

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM
Kahu

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM
New Zealand

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Kahu

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM

Move comes after MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp died last month.

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

'Exemplar for the country': Historic iwi agreement reshapes water use

09 Jul 09:14 PM
'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

'Dying needlessly': Iwi monitors call for action on low cancer screening rates

09 Jul 09:08 PM
Wellington Opera brings historic tale of Rotorua soldier to life

Wellington Opera brings historic tale of Rotorua soldier to life

08 Jul 09:46 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP