Series Classification: PG
Pianika was the fifth child and a millennium surprise for her young Mormon parents who’ve changed a lot as they’ve connected to their taha Māori. Pianika’s life is about to take a radical change of direction.
“Whānau 2021” is the latest instalment in a very special documentary series following the lives of whānau who had babies in 2000.
We’ve revisted them every seven years and in this update, three of the ‘babies’ invite us back into their lives and to their 21st birthday celebrations. They reflect on their upbringings and what it’s like to be Māori in the 21st century.
Pianika receiving her 21st taonga Photo: Tūmanako Productions
Pianika was the sixth baby, and a ‘millennium surprise’ for her young Mormon parents.
At age 14 Pianika said she wanted to be a Dentist, and right on track, in 2019 she did a Foundation in Health Sciences year at Otago University. Pianika intended to take 2020 as a gap year travelling, but Covid 19 overturned those plans, so she returned to live with her parents in Tauranga.
Pianika hapu at work Photo: Tūmanako Productions
We catch up with Pianika when she is working in a Health Promotion role training early childcare educators to incorporate korikori tinana and kai hauora programmes into their practice. She believes her educational background set her up well for this mahi:
Pianika smiling down at baby Photo: Tūmanako Productions
Pianika: “Growing up in kohanga I went through reo rumako at school. I was always in the Māori unit and then I went into mainstream and then I went back into wharekura at college and then back into mainstream. Um, so I kind of had the best of both worlds.”
However, Pianika’s life is about to take another radical change of direction…
NZ On Air Photo: NZOA
