I am a decedent of kings, of healers, of navigators, of explorers – I am a son of Nukuroa.
Everything the ancestors have achieved, believed and manifested, has led to this one moment in time in which I speak to you now, that they may speak to you now… and so we honour them.
Ka rere e   About to take flight
Te manu o te reva e  Bird of the skies
Muteki te matangi  May the winds whisper
Marino te moana   May the ocean be peaceful
To be indigenous is to stand in a single moment in time, on the edge of a vast legacy, stepping into a potent future.
It is to fly as the birds, carried on the winds of history.

Te tauranga o te manu o te reva e The place from which birds alight
Aue Rarotonga nui e   Oh great Rarotonga
To be indigenous is to have a place of alightment  – a homeland
It is to be greater than yourself, knowing you are part of a greater whole.
 I am the land and the land is me.

E ivi, e kiko, e toto One bone, one flesh, one blood
Tatou katoatoa  All of us
It is about kinship, about relationships. It is knowing my sisters children are also my children. My neighbour’s joy is also my joy. My struggle is our struggle. It means never being alone.

E rere ra e, e toku vaerua  Fly then my spirit
E rere koe, ki te rangi   Fly to the heavens
E kimi’ia Iaia    Search for Him
Kia kite te Atu, ko Iehova  Gaze upon the Creator
It is knowing we are spirit and all things are spirit.

Being indigenous to me is about manifesting a future, a very particular future. A future that has been shaped by the past, with the knowledge and wisdom gifted to us over generations. A future for the Earth built on being in right-relationship with each other, with nature and with spirit.
My comfort lies in the fact that indigenous peoples have never stopped trying to do this.
So we do as our ancestors once chanted:
 Taku manu nui      My great bird
Taku manu ra’i      My wondrous bird
Taku manu karere to iti iti ki tonga ki tokerau  Fly to the four corners of the world
Oki mai, oki mai, oki mai    Come home, come home, come home
I – E – Koko      So it is done
We are those birds, called to make change in this world, we will bring it home, it will be done.