Moana Maniapoto

Moana Maniapoto, MNZM, has toured the globe fusing traditional Māori and modern sounds in bands Moana and the Moahunters and Moana & the Tribe. Alongside partner Toby Mills, she has made award-winning documentaries exploring Māori topics and people, from indigenous intellectual property to Syd Jackson. On-screen, she has hosted current affairs and childrens television, and acted on hit soap Shortland Street. 

Te reo was not valued. But then I went overseas and had people I respect going 'Whoa, this is amazing' ... it gets validated, celebrated. So I came back and went 'okay, let's get a little bit more experimental here'. Moana Maniapoto on discovering her music was more valued overseas, in an interview with The Spinoff, 8 June 2019