NUKU: Story Sovereignty

In 2021 the much-celebrated book, NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women was released. NUKU is story sovereignty. It platforms Indigenous wāhine and gives them ownership over their narrative in an unfiltered, uninterrupted way. Through telling their stories, the women in NUKU seek to influence the world around them.

In this powerful panel session, NUKU founder, creator and publisher Qiane Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao and Cook Islands) discusses story sovereignty with Pāpāmoa-based marine ecologist, Professor Kura Paul-Burke (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo), filmmaker and producer Chelsea Winstanley (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi te Rangi), and racial equity educator, Kat Poi (Tainui, Te Arawa, Tonga) from Courageous Conversations South Pacific. These women will generously share their stories,the good and ugly, and wrestle with how story sovereignty could be improved today in Aotearoa.

Sponsored By Holland Beckett Law

Wheelchair friendly event

Chelsea Winstanley

Chelsea Winstanley (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi te Rangi, Pākehā) is an award-winning filmmaker and has been a producer, writer and director for over 20 years. As a P.G.A Producer on JoJo Rabbit she became the first indigenous female Oscar nominee for Best Picture. Other credits include Night Raiders, Merata: How Mum Decolonised The Screen and What We Do In The Shadows. Chelsea has produced the Disney animated version of Moana Reo Māori and The Lion King, and will soon release Frozen Reo Māori.

Qiane Matata-Sipu

Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua ki Te Ahiwaru me Te Ākitai, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao and the Cook Islands) is a celebrated journalist, author, activist, photographer, and community leader. She has had a 16 year career working across multi media as a storyteller and producer. As well as being a co-founder of the SOUL Protect Ihumātao campaign, she is also the founder and creator of NUKU, a creative social-impact storytelling movement profiling 100 Indigenous women through photography, audio podcast, video, live events, and now a highly acclaimed and top selling self-published book, NUKU:Stories of 100 Indigenous Women. Qiane is the winner of the Arts & Culture section of the 2021 Women of Influence Awards and NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women is shortlisted on the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and a finalist in the PANZ Book Designer Awards 2022.

Kat Poi

Professionally grounded in Aotearoa New Zealand's education sector, Kat Poi (Tainui; Te Arawa; Tonga) invests her time in systemic racial equity transformation, anti-racist adult professional learning, development and coaching; and anti-racist programme design and delivery. She believes honest relationships built on honest conversation is key to developing the consciousness required to solve problems that threaten our humanity. She also knows this is easier said than done. Her current PhD research is utilising Indigenous methodologies to better understand how Māori public servants experience, relate to, and navigate white fragility.

Kura Paul-Burke

Kura Paul-Burke is the first ever wāhine Māori Professor in Mātai Moana - Marine Research in Aotearoa New Zealand. Based at the University of Waikato, she uses traditional Māori resources & knowledge alongside marine science to assist pragmatic kaitiakitanga (restoration, monitoring, management) of culturally and ecologically important marine species and spaces for the long term. Kura is equally passionate about working with taiohi (youth) teaching freediving and rohe moana monitoring as an access pathway for more Māori in STEM (sciences, technologies, engineering, mathematics).