Maori Culture Quotes

I've been fascinated with Maori culture since I was a kid.

I love 'Whale Rider.' That's one of my favorite films of all time.

That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians.

Although I didn't spend much time in New Zealand at all, I feel really privileged to have that Maori blood and link to my past. I got my tattoo out of respect to that.

My mother's Maori, and my father's Australian. I take my strength from both my ancestors, and I'm really privileged.

I really didn't want to be boxed into becoming a certain kind of film-maker - becoming the Maori story film-maker because I had made those short films.

When I found out more about the Maori culture, I fell in love with it, and with the people, too.

This was only Taika Watiti fourth film [Hunt for the Wilderpeople], but I think he brings a very original way of looking at stuff and I think if you look at Boy, for instance, which is a beautiful film, that was his second feature, and it's heartbreakingly sad, but it's also simultaneously very funny. There are not many people who can do that.

I want to see and taste and experience it all, I am curious by nature. I would actually really love to go to New Zealand.

I went to New Zealand this year, and, whew man, I know a lot of people want to go there. But let me just tell you, it's 22 hours by plane. So, if you have the opportunity, don't.

I'm from Canada, and New Zealand feels like you took all the best bits of Canada and squished them onto a tiny island like Hawaii. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the South Island.

I was born in New Zealand, so I have a lot of family there.

The big change was reggae and hip-hop, which came along after Split Enz had started. When Bob Marley first visited New Zealand, he lit a fuse that is still burning very brightly. The Maori people particularly honor reggae music in a very big way. So there is a strong reggae scene and a strong hip-hop scene, especially among Samoans. There's still plenty of quirky stuff around. No one expects to make much money here, so it definitely does encourage an underground sense.

I had a country upbringing in a predominantly Maori community, and that contrasted with a very multi-cultured arts community in the Aro Valley in Wellington: growing up around a lot of theatre and poets and writers and stuff.

New Zealand is in my heart, always.

Kiwis, we love a good one out. We love a good fight. This is part of the culture. Straight up. We're a country of a warrior race, the Maori.

I thought, how do I reflect the generosity, particularly of all the iwi who gifted us names - and Te Aroha seemed to be a way.

I'm a Kiwi. I'm from a beach suburb called Takapuna, which is on the north shore of Auckland in New Zealand.

What does 'Ngaio' mean? I don't know. Like many Maori words, it has a number of meanings - clever, light on the water, a little bug - but I don't know which my parents had in mind.

I'm quite proud of growing up in New Zealand where, from quite early on in primary school, you're learning to count in Maori, Maori mythology and dances and colours and history, and I think that gives a child a really good grounding.

I went to a boarding school with a strong Maori tradition, where we were taught all about the haka.

Each haka has its own interpretation, but you have to make sure you are in unison with your team-mates; the haka should be a proper war cry.

I want to go to New Zealand. I have no idea what it's like, and in my head, everyone lives in/on an ice lake, so I'd like to come stay.

My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities working with others to advance the well-being of Maori.

If you asked someone who was a Maori about how they felt about how they were treated in Australia or New Zealand, you'll get an answer. They'll have something to tell you. And you might not like what you hear.