He waka kotuia, kāore e tukutukua ngā mimira!
Mauri ora! Nau mai, haere mai ki Nukutawhiti 2026.
He mihi nui ki ngā ringa, ngā reo me ngā mana i whai wāhi ki tēnei putanga.Nā koutou i whai hua ai tēnei kaupapa.
Nei ka mihi, ka mihi, ka mihi!
Not to disparage any of the work that has come before, but I wanted to do something a little different with Nuku this year. This year’s issue is inspired by the old, but with a lot of new elements in here too. Some of the content is new, some of it is different, and I wanted to move beyond seeing Māori content as having to be about the same things every year. There’s a bit of everything in here, and hopefully something for everyone.
The theme for this year’s Wiki o Te Reo Māori is “Ake Ake Ake: A Forever Language”, which I think is extremely fitting for where we are right now. It doesn’t just position te reo Māori as a language that will exist forever. It recognises a language that has endured, despite everything that has been thrown at it, and one that will continue to grow, change and be carried forward.
That idea of carrying something forward has been sitting in the back of my mind while putting together this issue.
I’m particularly proud of this year’s Nuku, and not just because of what is actually in these pages. I’m proud of the hands that brought it together. Some of the people who put their hand up to write for this issue were not necessarily the people I expected to see contributing. Some were people who probably would not have thought of themselves as writers, or as someone who would have something to contribute to a Māori publication.
But they did.
And sometimes it really is about having the right people, at the right time, with the right opportunity in front of them.
Every week, Nexus is full of tauira who are talented writers, each bringing their own style, voice and flair to the paper. I don’t think Māori students need to be given a completely separate space to create in. I think we need to be part of the wider paper too, bringing our own perspectives, experiences and ideas into the mix.
That’s part of why we introduced Kōrero Mai this year.
Kōrero Mai is a chance for Māori students to get more involved in Nexus, not just as readers, but as contributors. I hope it becomes something that continues long after my time here. I hope we see new Māori writers come into this space, people who might not have considered writing for Nexus before, and eventually people who just see it as normal. Because that is really what I want to change.
I want Māori students to see Nexus as a space they can walk into and own.
And I don’t think the problem is that Nexus doesn’t want Māori content. If that were true, we wouldn’t have Nuku every year. The opportunity is there. What we don’t have enough of, are Māori writers putting their hands up to write about kaupapa Māori, or bringing a Māori lens to the things they are already interested in.
I don’t say that as a criticism. I say it because I think there is so much more that could be here.
Nuku shouldn’t be the one time each year where Māori voices appear in Nexus. It shouldn’t be the only place where you see Māori students writing about identity, politics, sport, music, art, food, culture or whatever else we happen to be talking about. We should be everywhere.
And I don’t just mean writing about being Māori. I mean writing about whatever the hell we want. Sitting alongside everyone else in the paper, bringing different experiences, different ways of looking at things and something fresh to the conversation. That is what a truly multicultural Nexus should look like. That is the culture I want to help build.
I say this as a Māori writer, and as someone whose first language is te reo Māori: Nexus welcomes you. There is a place for you here. You just have to show up.
You don’t have to wait until you feel like a “real writer”. You don’t need to have written for a newspaper before. You don’t need to know exactly what you’re doing. If you have something to say, there is a space for it.
So, this issue is a little bit of a wero. To Māori students, take up the space. Write the thing. Send in the article. Have the opinion. Bring your reo. Bring your humour. Bring your own perspective.
And to the people who put their hands up for this issue, thank you. You have helped create something that I hope is bigger than just these pages.
Ake ake ake is about a forever language. For me, it is also about making sure there are always Māori voices carrying it forward. Nuku is here this year.
I hope Māori students keep making their way into these pages long after this issue is gone. Not just for Nuku, but every other week of the year too.
