Last week I was scrolling through my Facebook feed late Friday night. I came across a post from the New Zealand Consulate in Los Angeles promoting a new documentary film. Out of curiosity I clicked on it and saw they were having a special screening that Sunday in LA and that there would be a Q&A with the Directors and Producers of the film afterwards. I recognized 2 of the 4 names mentioned. Producers Clifford Curtis, a talented actor who’s played so many diverse characters in Hollywood, and Taika Watiti an accomplished film Director and voice of Corg from the Marvel movies. For my Mother’s Day gift, I asked if we could go. Of course my sweetie made it happen and got my sister Erana and brother Hagoth to come with us.

With only 24 hours before we would attend the screening I got my social media stalking on and followed the Directors of the film Heperi Mita and Chelsea Winstanley via Instagram. By doing so I found out that this was their big weekend release. They started there premiere journey in Aotearoa (New Zealand) on Mother’s Day and were continuing it here in California also on Mother’s Day. I enjoyed watching their IG stories of attending the different screenings and their adventures getting to and through the airports.

As a Maori woman, I wanted to watch the movie because I have a personal connection and desire to support other Maori. Aotearoa is my mother’s homeland and even though I was born and raised here in America I like to take any chance I can to learn about or be more connected to my Maori culture.

The film is an intimate look at Merata Mita's life as a mother, filmmaker, and activist. "Merata, was the first Māori woman, and first indigenous woman in the world, to write and direct a narrative feature film. She directed movies in Hollywood, interviewed Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and worked for various respected organisations around the world such as the BBC and National Geographic. Her independent political documentaries of the ‘70s and ‘80s highlighted the injustices for Māori people in New Zealand, and often divided the country". (https://streamingmoviesright.com/us/movie/merata-how-mom-decolonized-the-screen/)

The film is directed and narrated by Merata’s youngest son Hepi. I loved how through creating this film he learned through book interviews , film, and his older siblings more about his mother. He stated how it was good to hear her voice again on film. I definitely could relate to his experiences. Being number 9 of 10 kids I definitely saw my mother differently and experienced life differently with her than my older siblings. I find myself looking for pieces of my mom and wondering what she was doing at my age or what would she think of me now. Luckily, I have my older siblings I can ask.

​I think one of the reasons this film hit so close to home was that my eldest niece had just shared a clip of my own mother singing with my Aunty Linda. It had been the first time I had heard her voice in several years. Hearing my mother’s and Merata’s voice encouraged me as a Mother to be mindful of the legacy I leave for my own posterity. I’m grateful for this reminder.

So it’s been a week since I’ve watched this amazing film. I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of the Indigenous Women Movement, and I love it. I’ve found some wonderful podcasts, Instagram stories, and films to educate myself. I’m definitely fangirling over Director Chelsea Winstanley. She is also a powerful Maori woman who inspires and continues to create space for other indigenous women to rise up and bring about change.  I look forward to watching more of her films and following her future in the film industry.

As I watched the film “Merata Mita: How Mum Decolonised the Screen”, I felt this deep kinship with this woman I’ve never met or heard of before. Even though the things she thought and said were taboo in her time, she was a pioneer in the film industry as the first Maori and indigenous filmmaker. She paved a way and created a place for other Maori, Indigenous, and Women in the film industry. She stood up for her people and not only documented injustices to Maori people but also fought to change them.

​This film stirred a desire to want to learn more about indigenous women around the world and be a part of sharing a continued message of remembering who we are and the power of change we are capable of creating. I’ve always been a supporter of native and indigenous artists but Merata has inspired me to want to connect back to my Maori roots. I’ve been reading up on my interest in taaniko which is Maori weaving. I’m learning the stories about the strong women in my own family. I’m grateful for all who were a part of making this film happen. I felt empowered to focus on what’s really important to me. Best Mother’s Day Ever.

The Winnemem Wintu (Middle Water People) Tribe is indigenous to Northern California. They are intimately connected to the McCloud River, Bulyum Puyuk (Mount Shasta), and the surrounding meadows. The Winter-Run Chinook Salmon are sacred to the Winnemem Wintu people. They believe when the Creator put them on the Earth they had no voice, their Salmon relatives gave up their voices to the Winnemem Wintu people.

Now the Chinook Salmon are on the verge of extinction. The Winnemem Wintu people have an ancient prophecy, “When there are no more salmon, there will be no more Winnemem Wintu people.”

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, salmon eggs were taken from the McCloud River to populate the rivers in other parts of the world.

​The Winnemem Wintu preformed a War Dance at the Shasta dam in 2004 and made news around the world. A New Zealand professor contacted them saying, “We have your fish, do you want them back?” The Chinook Salmon eggs had been taken to Aotearoa (New Zealand) back in late 1800s and early 1900s had survived in the glacier-fed rivers and exist there in healthy numbers. 
​
After meeting with the Maori people of the South Island, the Ngai Tahu Tribe, the Winnemem Wintu are raising money to travel back to New Zealand with their tribal youth to collect samples for DNA testing to prove to the U.S. government that the New Zealand salmon are indeed the McCloud river fish so they can restore the fish to their river.

Not only am I a descendant of the Ngai Tahu people but I also belong to their sister tribe Ngati Porou as both our tribes are descendants of Paikea. And as a resident of California, I want to help the Winnemem Wintu people with their salmon restoration project.

I want my son to know that indigenous people matter and that too often are our communities’ needs, ideas, and beliefs overlooked and disrespected. I want him to grow up not being afraid to stand up for what’s right.

This is why we made “Bring Our Salmon Home” signs together as a family and also why
I am going to donate 10% of all of my sales this week
​from my shop Lularoe Ana Aiono Dowden to the Winnemem Wintu Salmon Restoration Project.


You can also donate to the Salmon Restoration Project through their GoFundMe site.

kia kaha!
1. be strong, get stuck in, keep going.

"Kia Kaha!" is a Maori phrase that means "Be Strong!"
In my family, we often say it to one another when someone is in need of strength or is having a hard time, or to encourage each other.
It is also the middle name of my nephew, 
Kingston Kia Kaha Aiono.​

Kingston was diagnosed with XLP and passed away in 2007, a few months before his third birthday.
Yesterday would have been his 13th birthday.

After his passing, I had Kingston's full name tattooed on my wrists and hands. They remind me of how blessed I was to be his Aunty. To never take life for granted. And to always cherish those close to you. Kingston will forever be in my heart. He was a gentle warrior who honored and changed our family for the better with his presence.

For more information about XLP or to Donate to others with XLP please visit:
FRIENDS OF KINGSTON

On January 24, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order clearing the way for the Dakota Access Pipeline to proceed through lands held as sacred by the
Standing Rock Sioux. 

Protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline have been going on since the project was approved back in July of last year, uniting the seven subtribes of the
Sioux Nation, known as the Seven Council Fires, for the first time since the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. It has also become a historic rallying point for indigenous peoples all over the world and has sparked the largest gathering of Native American tribes in history. 

​The Lakota have two prophecies that seem to be coming to pass. The first that a "Black Snake" would come to America with the power to destroy the world, or unify it. And second, "According to Crazy Horse, a revered mid-19th century Oglala Lakota chief who led tribes to victory at Little Bighorn, the Lakota people would undergo generations of spiritual genocide and environmental degradation following American colonization of the West. Then, a seventh generation would wake up and rise — a generation that would lead the healing and restoration of the planet, rejuvenate a forgotten spirituality, and create harmony among people of all colors and creeds."

These Water Protectors belong to different organizations and may have different reasons for being there - indigenous rights, civil rights, environmental awareness - but they are united in the cause to prevent the pipeline from crossing the Missouri River just miles away from Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. They are brave protectors who have endured horrific human rights violations at the hands of the local law enforcement of the area.

My reasons for supporting the Water Protectors have more to do with protecting the rights, lands, and cultures of indigenous peoples. I believe that the United States should honor their treaties with the various Native American tribes and start addressing the problems of the most marginalized group of people in the U.S.  

As a woman of Maori descent, I sympathize with the loss of lands and culture that the indigenous people of this land have faced. My Great-Great-Great Grandfather,
Piripi Te-Maari-o-te-rangi, was also a water protector and "was consistently concerned that Maori landowners should lose none of their rights. This concern led him into the great battle of his life, the struggle to prevent settler encroachment on the rights and lands of the owners of the two Wairarapa lakes." I am proud to be descended from this brave Water Protector and also so proud of my niece Kaitlyn for traveling to Standing Rock with supplies last November and continuing this legacy.