What makes waiata and song so important for me is because it connects me back to my family and my whakapapa, but also helps me to connect to other people. Some of the tunes might originate from other artists and it’s just tweaked or modified to suit into the kapa haka realm. I just came from a competition over in Rarotonga and one of the songs we took over there is a song I’ve grown to love from when I was little because it was one of the anthems they used to always jam; a song that my nannies grew up listening to. The meaning behind it is quite lovely, because it’s talking about all of us together, celebrating.

The thing for me that I’ve come to love about waiata is it’s another way to tell stories. To be able to hear the story means a lot more, to me because it sits deeper and you understand it more. The mahi that I do here in the library, some of the kids that I’ve been working with have trouble with reading, some of them are quite heavily dyslexic, so for them to be able to tell their stories through music and waitata that’s a big passion for me.

One of my favourites is E Minaka Ana; because of its message about being strong to revitalise the language but also because it makes me smile all the time, to see different people from all ages and walks of life being able to have fun in one song and you can just like rock along to it. I think it was one of the first songs that I ever learned when I was younger too so that’s probably why it means a whole lot to me.

I think Te Wiki i te Reo Māori starts small. And then it becomes a big thing when we all start to get the message across that it’s the small things that matter the most. Because the small changes make the big differences.

To encourage our tamariki to not be afraid to use the reo they have. Just being able to say those small kupu that you have with confidence. Kia ora is the biggest one. If you can say kia ora to anybody; oh my gosh, you’re a legend.”