“Feeding our tamariki lunch at schools may never pass the cost-benefit test, because an exclusively market-driven appraisal is anchored in money, not manaaki.” — Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman, in his book ‘Whose Knowledge Counts? From Warp Drive to Waka Huia.’

“I was deeply unhappy. I think people looking in from the outside would have thought: ‘Oh, he’s got it together,’ but there was no one coming to put this fire out.” — Former firefighter Jemarl Paerata on transforming his mental health.

“I was in all the orchestras, all the choirs, all the barbershops, everything. I think it’s quite cool that I never went through any period when I was thinking: ‘What would I like to be when I grow up?’” — Soprano Madison Nonoa, who stars in NZ Opera’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’.

“When I started being exposed to te reo Māori, learning it seemed like a natural progression rather than a radical idea.” — Rituraj Sapkota.

“I like to keep a low profile. I wouldn’t go so far as saying I’m an introvert, but I prefer being in the shadows to being in the light.” — Leon Heketū Blake, a leading reo teacher, translator, and composer.

“Without elders they can see and a history they can access, each generation of Pacific Rainbow people can feel as though they’re the first to navigate sexuality, culture, family and faith.” — Andre Afamasaga on wishing he’d found his elders sooner.

“I got to do what I wanted to do right from the very beginning — to contribute to a kaupapa of our storytelling that I knew was growing. And to be able to investigate the Māori world, and at the same time consolidate my place in it.” — Tainui Stephens, filmmake and storyteller.

Māori communities must be “central to the kōrero around whether or when we could or should pursue a project like huia de-extinction.” — Terri Te Tau, author of ‘The Valley of Unlikely Acquaintances’.

Māori communities must be “central to the kōrero around whether or when we could or should pursue a project like huia de-extinction.” — Terri Te Tau, author of ‘The Valley of Unlikely Acquaintances’.

“In South Africa, I had learned Afrikaans, Latin and Zulu at school, so it was just a natural thought that as a new Kiwi, I needed to learn te reo Māori out of respect for Indigenous people.” — Barb Costelloe.

“As I leaned into the dissonance of the past, I realised that learning te reo had become a salve that smoothed away the spiky edges of my defensiveness.” — Marcel Currin on how learning te reo changed his perspective as a Pākehā.

“I always approach the storytelling like I’m cooking a meal for everybody. I want there to be some sense of satisfaction and some sense of warmth.” — Actor and comedian Bailey Poching on his solo stage show ‘Doing Great’.

“Releasing a kiwi is a privilege. There is a sense of homecoming. As Matua Tom Roa says, kiwi are the ‘manu whenua’. The originals.” — Paul Ward, founder of the Capital Kiwi Project, on returning kiwi back to the wild in Wellington.

“What I remember from those first reo classes was realising that my monolingual, monocultural upbringing was not the only way of seeing the world, and that learning a language as an adult is hard.” — Atakohu Middleton, author of ‘Waka Aroha’, a new collection of Māori-language short stories.

“As a learner, it’s easy to become overly cautious about the language. We can get bogged down in the seriousness of te reo Māori, in the formality and solemnity of it, the oratory, karanga, and karakia.” — Eugene Bingham.

An extract from Atakohu Middleton’s newly published collection ‘Waka Aroha: He kohinga pakipoto’ — the first sole-authored book of short stories in te reo Māori, written for adults.

“Living rurally, I knew an ambulance would take 45 minutes. It wouldn’t get here in time.” — Shelley Burne-Field on trying to save her husband after his heart stopped.

“For Te Awa Tupua to be more than a bicultural compromise, it must become a platform for the genuine exercise of Māori authority over ancestral lands and waters.” — Hemopereki Hoani Simon.

“People like David Seymour like to frame what we’re doing as selecting medical students based on race. No, that’s actually the issue we’re trying to correct — historically our admissions processes have selected an overwhelmingly Pākehā student cohort.” — Professor Papaarangi Reid.

“If those poisoned men can keep standing up for their people and lands while sick and tired, the rest of us can stand with them.” — Catherine Delahunty on the continuing fight for redress by sawmill workers exposed to PCP.