Shilo Part II: the journey of reclaiming her own identity & language

This is Part 2 of my interview with journalist and author Shilo Kino. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I would recommend you go back and listen to that episode to get the full context of this conversation.

In this episode, we talk about what motivated Shilo to stay in journalism, writing and releasing her first book and how she is feeling ahead of her year-long full-immersion Te Reo Māori course.

Language notes:
1. "Kaumātua" are tribal elders and help to preserve traditions and pass knowledge down to younger generations. They are highly revered.
2. "Mana" is kind of a tricky term to understand fully through words only. In Māori, it refers to an intangible force found in people and objects. It underpins everything and to have mana means to have spiritual power, authority, identity and respect.
3.  "Waka" means "canoe", but in the context of this episode, the word is used metaphorically to mean "journey".

Other notes:
"Ihumātao" is a village in Auckland, but in this episode it refers to protests by local Māori against proposals to use the land, which was initially confiscated by the New Zealand government as punishment, for housing. For more information, you can visit: https://www.protectihumatao.com/

"The Stuff Apology" refers to an apology made by one of the country's largest media outlets for its racist coverage of Māori stories. You can read it here.

Shilo's book is called The Pōrangi Boy and you learn more about it here.

You can support and follow Shilo's work through her Instagram account and Twitter, as well as her column at Newsroom. She is documenting her Te Reo Māori journey through her own podcast, Back to Kura.

If you liked this episode, please make sure to share and leave a review. I would appreciate all your help in getting these stories out to more people so that we too can challenge the narrative and be the representation we want to see. 

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