(Ngāti Waewae) (she/her)
Ariana
Bachelor of Law, GradDip Teaching (Secondary), Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo.
If teenage Ariana could have seen who she would grow up to be, the Reo Māori Mai founder reckons her younger self wouldn’t be able to believe it. Although she undertook a Certificate in Māori language between highschool and law school, it would be years before Ariana felt she could wield her mother tongue with any confidence or authority.
The birth of her second child awakened words within her and that began what is now a 12 year haerenga into the wonder of the Māori language, and the world that has opened up to her because of it. Ariana’s passion for the reo and ngāwari nature make her a perfect fit for a te reo Māori teacher and agent of transformational change.
Walking with one foot in te ao Pākehā, one foot i te ao Māori means the business director is well-placed to support people on their journey to not only learn the indigenous language of this land; it also enables her to support people as they unpack what it means to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, to unpack and confront racism in Aotearoa and to be on a path towards decolonisation.
Vicci captures one of Ariana’s many teaching strengths beautifully: “It's one thing to learn reo, but Ariana has the ability to share how we hold it. When to use it, when not to use it for example, or where to focus your reo journey.”
(Kāi Tūāhuriri, Kāti Huirapa) (she/her)
Lucy
Diploma in Rongoā Māori, Bachelor of Arts (Te Reo Māori, Māori & Indigenous Studies), BA Honours (First Class) in Māori & Indigenous Studies.
This young wahine joined the Reo Māori Mai tīma after an intuitive invitation from Ariana to board the kaupapa - following Ariana’s semester as a lecturer in Lucy’s university class!
Lucy moved to Ōtautahi on a snap decision to study te reo Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury. She completed her Honours in 2021, which discusses the mana of tīpuna wāhine in her whakapapa and in the broader context of Kāi Tahu tribal history. Lucy has begun a journey into Rongoā Māori, which has quickly developed into a passion.
“Just seeing how much my worldview has shifted by being able to understand the intricacies of my whakapapa, the history of our country, has been transformational.”
Reo Māori Mai tends to call for kaimahi who can do a bit of everything and to that end, Lucy offers te reo Māori teaching, resource design, and is moving into the decolonisation facilitation space also.
(Pākehā) (she/her)
Nic
Nic is our Operations Manager extraordinaire. She keeps the Reo Māori Mai ship running tight by managing our day to day administration, finances and project management. Nic excels at all things systems, while also ensuring that these work for our wider team and our multiple commitments, “I really like the idea that I can make things better for people, people’s experience at mahi.”
Born and raised in Ōtautahi, it wasn’t until she joined Te Aho o te Kura Pounamu that her eyes were opened to te ao Māori. From here, she has embraced the culture, and feels passionate to be part of making the ao a better place for her tamariki and those to follow.
Now as an integral part of our tīma at Reo Māori Mai, Nic values being part of an organisation with other parents who are supported by a pakihi that understands and values the vital role of mātua (parents).
Kaikirimana | Contractors
Reo Māori Mai have a great team of contractors who support us with both facilitation/teaching and behind the scenes mahi
(Kāti Waewae, Kāi Tahu) (she/her)
Andrea
After being a stay-at-home mum for 11 years, Andrea was more than ready to get back to mahi - although, nobody’s really sure if she ever took time out.
Between raising her five tamariki and being matua whāngai for two more, she has also been an active volunteer of Playcentre Aotearoa within Ōtautahi, on the governance board and volunteered for years with STOP, a charitable organisation aimed at supporting whānau and tamariki who have experienced sexual harm.
Andrea was born and raised in Hokitika, went to school with colleague Liv Stevens, and was privileged to grow up at the Pā with her Tāua and Poua: “I was so lucky. We just lived on the river; catch īnaka, look for pounamu, jump off the bridge.”
“My English teacher and Tāua got me a scholarship to Nelson Girls’ College, which she thought was the best entry into life; really, I just wanted to stay at the Pā and learn Te Ataarangi from her.”
After 10 years in Nelson, she settled in Ōtautahi to start her family and has lived East-side ever since. It wasn’t until she began to see a need in her communities for help with te reo Māori that she connected with her whanaunga, Ariana.
At Reo Māori Mai, she assists with Ngāi Tahu iwi and hapū projects - “whatever that might be on the day; kai prep, cleaning the tari, errands.” She also supports with teaching and facilitation.
“I love this job; I always saw myself facilitating, but I never thought I would be doing this through a te ao Māori lens, with te reo Māori.”
(Kāti Māhaki, Kāi Tahu) (she/her)
Liv
Diploma in Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi.
Although Liv grew up on Te Tai Poutini in Hokitika, it wasn’t until she and her Cornish husband brought their first tama into te ao mārama that she really experienced a home calling. Despite a career in England as a pharmacist technician, she wanted her tamariki to be raised in Aotearoa, with their marae and whakapapa close by.
In order to provide intergenerational transmission, Liv enrolled at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWoA) in 2017 in Te Ara Reo Māori. This became a six year ara which established her fluency i te reo rangatira - and brought her to connect with Reo Māori Mai.
“I love working with Reo Māori Mai; we’re all on the same page, rowing the waka towards an Aotearoa Hou. My mahi means I get to go home to Makaawhio and keep strengthening my whānau’s connection there too.”
Liv is one of our kaiako, and also works to manage communication and logistics for He Ruru Mātauranga, an iwi-led strategy for Te Tai Poutini educators and learners to better engage in te ao Māori.
(Kōtirana/Scottish) (She/her)
Vicci
Bachelor of Fine Arts, GradDip. Teaching (Secondary), GradDip. Arts Therapy, Diploma in Te Aupikitangi ki te Reo Kairangi.
Vicci is a proudly Scottish wahine who, through becoming a Māmā to three Ngāti Porou pēpi, has taken up the wero of learning and living with te reo Māori. Her first step into te ao Māori truly came with the arrival of her daughter in 2016 and it’s an ara she is still firmly set upon.
“This is for my kids, it's a whānau thing. Watching my partner learn reo Māori and witnessing his blooming was so transformative.”
At first about supporting her tane, Vicci says it wasn’t long before she too fell in love with the language of this land. Following months of watching Tōku Reo on Māori TV while stuck on the couch feeding a newborn, she grew her reo Māori capacity through courses at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and within her hāpori.
Vicci’s first tenet as a kaikirimana at Reo Māori Mai is “beside or behind, never in front”. She is a staunch advocate for allyship to tāngata whenua and sees her tautoko of the pakihi as one way to help grow that same understanding within Aotearoa.