PODCAST · news
Māpuna
by RNZ
Māori throughout Aotearoa tell their stories to Julian Wilcox.
Episodes
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Nan Walden, PM's Science Teacher winner
Whaea Nan Walden Moeung recently won the Prime Minister's Science Teacher prize for 2025. She started her career in fashion design - skills she carried over into her teaching career, now at Wellington East Girls' College. Her classes include 3D printing, laser cutting, and digital modeling with...
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Stolen pounamu a 'wakeup' call
The continued theft of pounamu in the South Island has prompted two Ngai Tahu hapu to speak out about the scale of the problem. Earlier this month two people caught trying to illegally export almost 18 kilograms of the precious greenstone were sentenced and fined. Poutini Ngai Tahu Runanga...
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Kororipo Pa returned to Ngāpuhi
The historic Kororipo Pa in Keriker has returned to Ngāpuhi after almost 190 years. In the 1820s it was a base for the rangatira, Hongi Hika, before his war parties travelled south but also a place of learning and a vital hub for Ngāpuhi chiefs. Kipa Munro is the chair of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia...
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Witi Ihimaera, 'rangatahi had my back' when I learned Māori
Witi Ihimaera is a trailblazing award-winning writer and his books have enriched us for the past 50 years. Now in his 80s he's released Te Kaikaukau, The Swimmer: I te Ao o te Reo which explores his recent full immersion in Te Reo Māori. Witi Ihimaera says when he was a student the rangatahi…
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Kipling DC & Mo Munn prepare for comedy festival
Comedians Kipling DC and Mo Munn will join forces at the NZ International Comedy Festival next month with their show 'Skux Cowboys get lonely sometimes too.' Kipling also is nominated for the Billy T comedy award. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Betty Anne's debut solo album
Stretching back to the 1980s with Ardijah Betty Anne has been one of the most prominent voices in Aotearoa's music scene with hits such as 'Watching You.' Now she's releasing her debut solo album Slow Burn. She talks to Julian Wilcox about her long musical odyssey and sings a song from her new...
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2026 Ngarimu VC Scholarships awarded
The Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship awards were established in 1945 to assist Māori achievers to succeed in education and to contribute as leaders. Dr Kahurangi Waititi is on the organisation's board and her father, Major John Waititi, was a commanding officer in the...
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Tribute to broadcasting pioneer Moari Stafford
Former Te Karere reporters Baily Mackey and Mapuna's own Julian Wilcox pay tribute to Moari Stafford who died this week aged 74. And Hirini Matunga is the Professor of Maori and Indigenous Environmental Management at Lincoln University who will retire next month after nearly 50 years. He says...
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Māori Battalion soldier's story now a major new film
Dr Donna Morrison is a niece of Sergeant Haane Manahi who served in the 28th Maori Battalion during the Second World War. She's also produced the new film, Sergeant Haane, which focuses on the battle for the hilltop fortress of Takrouna in Tunisia in 1943. During the battle Sergeant Manahi led a...
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Gordon Watson on working with Ronaldo & Messi
For the past two years the general manager of Auckland City FC, Gordon Watson, has won Māori Sports Administrator of the Year. In the past he also worked for FIFA at three World Cups and with superstar footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Artist Reuben Paterson in New York
Maori contemporary artist Reuben Paterson moved to New York three years ago and says he feels an 'incredible sense of freedom' which carries over into his work. He has also contributed to the new documentary, TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty, which goes behind the scenes of the biggest ever exhibition of...
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Moana Maniapoto
Broadcaster and musician Moana Maniapoto pays tribute to her Mum and looks ahead to her upcoming performances with ONO, a collaboration with artists from Aotearoa, Australia, Hawai'i and Europe. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Using AI and data in indigenous storytelling
US based investigative journalists Tristan Ahtone and Maria Parazo Rose attended a conference in Tamaki Makaurau this week where they discussed data sovereignty, archival data and AI to uncover stories about 'whenua and mana motuhake' and exploring climate impacts through an indigenous lens. Go…
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Rob Ruha teams up with NZSO
Rob Ruha is an award-winning musician, composer and kapa haka 'fanatic.' Julian Wilcox asks him about his latest work, TEIWA, for which he's collaborating with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Professor Atholl Anderson
For decades Ngai Tahu archaeologist and historian, Professor Atholl Anderson, has explored the origins and historic migration of peoples around the Pacific, the first arrivals of Māori in Aotearoa and their early encounters with Europeans. His great, great, great grandmother married a sealer, and...
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The Māori Sidesteps 'an antidote to division.'
The Māori Sidesteps salute the great Māori showbands of the past while mixing it up with modern comedy and skit routines poking fun at everything from culture to politics. Group members Jamie McCaskill, Cohen Holloway and Jerome Leota talk to Julian Wilcox about their upcoming show at…
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Ngāti Tūwharetoa ariki Sir Tumu Te Heuheu
In a special extended interview with Ngati Tuwharetoa ariki, Sir Tumu Te Heuheu, he seeks the return of the Tongariro National Park and maunga to his iwi. Now aged in his 80s he also reflects on his aspirations for Maoridom and some advice for the ariki who follows him. Go to this episode on...
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Maori ethical fund 'thought we'd be laughed out of the room'
Tahito is a world first indigenous ethical investment company which invests in Australasian companies through its fund, Te Tai o Rehua. It uses Maori values, especially around the environment, to screen companies before investing in them. Tahito's managing director Temuera Hall says "initially we...
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Dr Arapata Hakiwai, thousands of taonga in overseas museums
Dr Arapata Hakiwai is Kaihautū at Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand and he's been involved in the repatriation of Māori and Moriori taonga from Australia, the United States and the UK. He says one estimate is that at least fifteen to sixteen thousand taonga are held by overseas museums. Go...
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Professor Ella Henry
Earlier this month Ella Henry delivered her inaugural professorial address at AUT Business School. Her background includes time at poet James K Baxter's commune, Jerusalem, on the Whanganui River in the 1970s, living up a tree in a Queensland rain forest, working on a prawn trawler and sailing to...
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Julian Arahanga
The world premiere for Mana Moana, Mana Tangata will be in Tamaki Makaurau tomorrow. It tells the story of how Maori fought to reclaim their fishing rights. Julian Arahanga, who starred in Once Were Warriors, also speaks about his other films and the possibility of taking on future acting roles.…
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Neavin Broughton writes about what almost killed him
First time author Neavin Broughton was a young man when tests discovered a brain tumour 'about the size of an orange' and his ensuing health problems almost killed him three times. Now he's written a book about his experiences, Everything I Am. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Nurse Dean Cowles at the frontline of 2019 Mosque attacks
Maori nurse Dean Cowles worked a 23-hour shift at Christchurch Hospital on the day of the 2019 mosque attacks in which 51 people died. He describes it as 'organised chaos with blood everywhere.' Now Dean Cowles is Southern Cross Healthcare's National Nursing Adviser Maori Affairs. Go to this...
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Te Mātāwai Tumu Whakarae Poia Rewi
Professor Poia Rewi is the Tumu Whakarae-Chief Executive of Te Mātāwai the independent organisation established in 2016 with the mission to 'restore Māori as a nurturing first language within Māori homes and communities'. Professor Rewi will step down next month after almost five years at the…
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Dr Maia Nuku, Oceania curator at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dr Maia Nuku (Ngai Tai) is the Oceania curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and recently its Oceania galleries underwent a major renovation. They will reopen in May 2025 and host a number of delegations from the Pacific including one from Aotearoa. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz...
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Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini
Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini has just returned from Cape Town where she led her team to victory in a tournament there. It adds to a stacked trophy cabinet that includes Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medals, sevens world championships and two World Cups in the 15-a-side game. Go…
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Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman
Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman is one of a new wave of Maori thinkers and academics whose research includes policing, health, education and indigenous knowledge systems in Aotearoa and overseas. Next year he'll be Victoria University's Emerging Maori Writer in residence. Where will his expertise and...
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Māori & US tribal leaders discuss sovereignty
Ngāti Toa rangatira Helmut Modlik and chief Kirk Francis from the Penobscot tribe in the northeastern United States discuss sovereignty, tribal economies and constitutional arrangements following an Indigenous Leaders symposium in Wellington. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Judge Aidan Warren
Judge Aidan Warren from the Maori Land Court joins judges from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Pacific for the first ever International Indigenous Judges Conference in Hamilton. How do they balance judging indigenously or being judges who happen to be tangata whenua? Go to this…
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Lady Tureiti Moxon honored for 'outstanding contribution' to health and wellbeing
This week Lady Tureiti Moxon received an honorary doctorate from Waikato University for her outstanding contribution to the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders. She's also chair of the National Urban Māori Authority, a lawyer who helped to settle her iwi's treaty claim and she's an important...
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Artist Shane Cotton's new work through a Ngāpuhi lens
The award winning and internationally acclaimed Maori artist, Shane Cotton, opens a new show in Tamaki Makaurau this weekend. His new paintings are billed as a "collision of Indigenous and European time systems through the lens of his Ngāpuhi whakapapa." Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more...
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Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku
Over the past 50 years Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku has been one of the most influential Maori academics and writers. In 1981 she became the first Maori woman to receive a PHD from a New Zealand University and was at the vanguard of women's and gay liberation movements dating back to the 1970s....
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Rugby star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe 'just run like hell'
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe conquered every summit in rugby union with Olympic gold medals and World Cups in her trophy cabinet. She traces her life from Kaikohe to globetrotting rugby star. Her parents' advice was 'just run like hell.' It worked as she scored more than 250 tries for New Zealand. Go...
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Fish and chips and Te Reo Maori
Mapuna hosts Anton Matthews who's the Director of Hustle group which operates a range of hospitality ventures including Fush which serves fish and chips and offers free lessons in Te Reo Maori. What started as a small initiative quickly caught fire as thousands of people registered their…
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Ngai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa
At just 45 years of age Justin Tipa's election as the Kaiwhakahaere of Ngai Tahu last year marked a generational shift in the iwi's top leadership. How is he faring at the helm with around two billion dollars in assets and more than 85-thousand iwi members? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for…
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Professor Anthony Hoete on Aotearoa's urban future
The award winning architect Professor Anthony Hoete has written a chapter in a new book, Urban Aotearoa, The Future of Our Cities, and recently the Royal Society Te Aparangi made Professor Hoete a fellow for his advancement of New Zealand and Maori architecture worldwide. He spent 30 years in...
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Award winning architect Nicholas Dalton
Julian Wilcox drops in to the Auckland offices of award winning Māori architect Nicholas Dalton and the company he founded, TOA. Mapuna is at the offices of the leading Māori architect, Nicholas Dalton, and the firm he founded, TOA. Among its many achievements are the award winning Te Taumata O...
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Ngai Tahu academic Matthew Scobie and musical duo Aro
Ngai Tahu academic Matthew Scobie has co-written a new book with Anna Sturman from the University of Sydney, called The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation in which they write 'the future of Aotearoa depends on how Māori engage with capitalism.' And the musical duo, Aro, featuring husband…
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Fran Ebbett, her path to captain an Air NZ jet
Fran Ebbett was just a schoolgirl when she started dreaming of becoming a pilot and eventually she rose through the ranks to captain an Air New Zealand passenger jet, possibly the first Māori woman to do so. Fran Ebbett was just a schoolgirl when she started dreaming of becoming a pilot. She…
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Māori talent alongside Booker & Pulitzer prize winners at Auckland Writers Festival
The Auckland Writers Festival starts on May 14 and its promotional push highlights a roll-call of talent from across the arts; Booker prize winner for 2023, Paul Lynch, plus generations of Māori writers from Patricia Grace to Becky Manawatu. The Auckland Writers Festival starts on May 14 and its...
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How 19th century leader Apihai Te Kawau shaped Auckland
A new stage production in Auckland looks at life for Ngati Whatua through the eyes of one their most prominent tupuna, Apihai Te Kawau, who signed Te Tiriti O Waitangi in March 1840. A new stage production in Auckland looks at life for Ngati Whatua through the eyes of one their most prominent...
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'Undefeated men in a defeated army' Cretan historian on the Māori Battalion
For Anzac Day Māpuna takes a look back at a special episode from 2023 when producer Tama Muru visited the Greek island of Crete to delve into the history of the battle in 1941 which pitted New Zealand, Australian and British troops against elite paratroopers from Nazi Germany. For Anzac Day…
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Sandy Adsett: 'If I paint by the numbers it's no good'
Over the past 60 years Māoridom has produced many prominent artists and one who definitely belongs in that category is Sandy Adsett, although he prefers to see himself as a painter. Over the past 60 years Māoridom has produced many prominent artists and one who definitely belongs in that category...
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Nathan Pohio on his first two years at Toi o Tamaki
Nathan Pohio recently finished his first two years as senior curator, Māori art at Toi o Tamaki, Auckland Art Gallery. Nathan Pohio recently finished his first two years as senior curator, Māori art at Toi o Tamaki, Auckland Art Gallery. He talks about how he decides what to put on display, the...
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Māori art pioneer Fred Graham
Mapuna visits Māori art pioneer Fred Graham at his home in Waiuku. He was part of a generation of young Māori artists who emerged after World War Two who forged a new path in contemporary art. Mapuna visits Māori artist Fred Graham at his home in Waiuku at the lower reaches of the Manukau…
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Māori food sovereignty & snapper with marmite suace
On this Mapuna podcast you'll hear about Māori food sovereignty from Dr Jessica Hutchings and chef Kia Kanuta will reveal the inspiration behind snapper with marmite sauce plus kumara puree and a beef short rib with horopito and harakeke rub. On this Mapuna podcast you'll hear about kumara puree,...
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A celebration of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at 80
Earlier this month Dame Kiri Te Kanawa celebrated her 80th birthday and in this podcast you'll hear from Dame Kiri herself and singers she's mentored such as baritones Robert Wiremu and Samson Setu. The general director of NZ Opera Brad Cohen gives his insights on why Dame Kiri's voice is...
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Whakaata Māori celebrates 20th anniversary
Mapuna looks back at 20 years of Whakaata Māori which started out in 2004 as the Māori Television Service. It's now an established and popular part of Aotearoa's media landscape will celebrate its 20th anniversary on March 28. Mapuna looks back at 20 years of Whakaata Māori with CEO, Shane…
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New Kiwis coach Stacey Jones on Warriors chances for 2024
In the first episode of our new podcast we talk to New Zealand rugby league legend Stacey Jones about his dual roles as assistant coach of the Warriors and also his new role as the head coach of the Kiwis. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
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Ngati Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber
Bayden Barber was one of the iwi leaders who tried to foster peace between factions inside Te Pati Maori last November after two of its MPs were expelled. What is his view of Te Pati Maori's prospects ahead of Waitangi Day and in an election year and what's it like being at the helm of one of New...
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Māori throughout Aotearoa tell their stories to Julian Wilcox.
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Māpuna currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Māori throughout Aotearoa tell their stories to Julian Wilcox.
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Māpuna has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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