Theresa Reihana

New Zealand, Ngāti Hine

Puketutu te Maunga

Waiomio te Awa

Miria te Marae

Ngati Hine te Iwi

Ko Theresa Reihana taku ingoa

I was born in 1966 the eldest of 7 children and raised by my parents Porowini and Gail Reihana. There was contrast in my whanau, my father is Maori and my mother is amongst others, Danish, Scottish and English.

I felt during this time that I was neither Pakeha nor Maori. Not Pakeha and not Maori enough…floating somewhere on the edge of wholeness. Later after having children I looked at them and realized they were the best of both sides of their parentage and not half or quarter of anything. In fact they were perfect. I then saw that in me.

I was bought up in South Auckland which enveloped our whanau amongst the color and vibrancy of a multi-cultural society where friends afforded us the absolute honor of being part of their whanau. Our friends come from Aotearoa, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Korea, Vietnam, India, Rarotonga, England and others. I had a blessed upbringing that I don’t take for granted.

In 1999 after having my second baby I become ill and left my job as a laborer driver on Manukau City Council to return home to the whanau papakainga in the Far North. At the time it was a hard decision but proved to be instrumental in the pathway I am now on. I was able to reconnect with my Maori culture, whakapapa links and history. It was this that inspired my art.

I credit my talent to my ancestors and place their values at the forefront of my life, both personal and artistically. My challenge is finding the balance between values of the past and those of the present.

Many Ngapuhi Hapu are in the stages of submitting their final submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal. In most cases they are generations down from the tupuna that they are representing. Many are completing the legal process that was started by their grandparents. They have been forced to fight legally for the return of their whenua which was taken from them.

My Grandparents, as well as hundreds of other grandparents in Ngatihine also lost land through legal and other Crown processes. Since the signing of the treaty the crown has used numerous legislation to acquire our land. The Native lands act in 1865 and through to The Maori Affairs Act 1953. The Maori Affairs act saw Maori land forcibly placed under trusts. The trusts were able to evict owners, sell and lease the land. They’re are still land blocks that are run and managed by these trusts that the owners are not able to access.

See Exhibition Artwork