The Mana Pounamu awards this year recognised the achievements of another group of young Maori. Kim Dungey talks to some of those who have won in the past about changing perceptions.
Recently held for the 11th time, the annual awards celebrate Maori achievement in Otago secondary schools.
Suzie Bates, who has represented New Zealand in cricket and basketball since receiving her award, says there is a perception that Maori are underachievers.
"It's almost institutionalised - that Maori don't overachieve - but there are plenty of Maori who do and it's [a matter of] putting that out there as much as you can."
"You're not," she says. "You can put in as much effort as anybody else and achieve greatness."
A Kai Tahu initiative, the awards are supported by the University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, the Ministry of Education, Ka Papatipu Runaka ki Araiteuru (the three local Ngai Tahu runaka) and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu (the tribal authority based in Christchurch).
University of Otago acting director of Maori development Janine Kapa says they were started by her late mother, Alva Kapa, a stalwart of Maori education.
"She wanted to turn around the way our young people are often represented because in her work she saw incredible rakatahi [Maori youth] in schools achieving fantastic things."
The awards began in 2001, with about 25 recipients. This year, there were 41.
Not only that, young Maori now wear their culture as a "badge of honour". In the first few years, there were two or three waiata in the whole evening. At this year's event, there was one after virtually every presentation.
"That shows an absolute growing pride in their culture and a growing skill and knowledge base. We've moved a long way in 10 years as a nation and as a community.
"I commend these young people. They're not just stepping up. They're excelling ..."
Otago Polytechnic offers three-year, tuition-paid scholarships to all senior recipients, which they have three years to take up. So far, five of the 16 from last year have done so.
Polytechnic kaitohutohu (senior manager Maori) Dr Kyhla Russell says it grates when researchers and lecturers talk about Maori enrolling as adults or for foundation courses being "second-chance learners" when so many were never offered a "first chance" that was meaningful to them.
Until schools make it possible for young Maori people to learn in a way that engages them and which has context for them, New Zealand will remain where it has been since the 1960s, she adds. Back then, there were calls for Maori to be assimilated more quickly so they could fit better into the education system on offer.
"That clearly has not worked and continues to not work but Mana Pounamu is one way we hope to acknowledge the achievements of our rakatahi ..."
In 2009, 17% of Maori aged 15 and over took part in tertiary education - the highest participation rate of any ethnic group - but the proportion of Maori students enrolled in bachelor and higher qualifications was 23%, compared with 41% for all domestic students. The Government now wants to increase the number enjoying success at higher levels.
• Rachel Hawkins recently completed the University of Otago's Tu Kahika course, a health sciences programme that aims to prepare Maori students academically for their first year of tertiary study. A head pupil and dux at Maniototo Area School, she was initially interested in medicine but has not ruled out studying physiotherapy or dentistry.
Like her, Kanoa Lloyd is a two-time winner of the Mana Pounamu Young Achievers award, has siblings who have received it, and is a former recipient of the Otago Daily Times Class Act award.
A presenter, writer and director for the children's show Sticky TV, she says awards like Mana Pounamu are important because they promote the idea that young people should be proud of what they are good at and proud of being Maori achievers.
And the 24-year-old, whose own Maori role models include broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld and film director Taika Waititi, says young people should be more proactive about seeking help to achieve their goals.
Suzie Bates has occasionally captained the New Zealand cricket team, holds the record for the highest score by a New Zealand woman (168 off 105 balls against Pakistan at the World Cup in 2009) and played basketball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Next year is also shaping up to be a big one for the 24-year-old, who will be graduating with a bachelor of education degree, playing in the 20/20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and preparing for the 50-over World Cup in India.
Another recipient, Haines Ellison, combined a law degree and a bachelor of arts degree and now works at the Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre providing a free legal service to all Ngai Tahu and to all Maori living in the Ngai Tahu area.
The 26-year-old lawyer specialises in Maori land issues, particularly complicated successions, and regularly appears in the Maori Land Court.
He also helps trusts that own blocks of Maori freehold land, and outside of work is a director of the limited company that manages the finances of the Puketeraki (Karitane) marae.
Receiving the Mana Pounamu award encouraged him to go to university, he says.
"It puts a little bit of pressure on you because people out there have expectations about you ... But the awards are a very positive thing."
The past recipients also talked of what it was like growing up Maori in a region where almost 80% of the population is European and just 6.6% is Maori (compared with 14.6% for all of New Zealand).
Hawkins, who received financial support through the Tu Kahika programme and a recent University of Otago Maori and Pacific Island Scholarship, says some people have complained about her getting "hand-outs".
"Other kids who aren't Maori are like, '[It's] racist. Just because you're a Maori, you get everything and you don't even have to try.' I'm like, 'Excuse me. I do try. It doesn't just get handed out. You have to work real hard to get these sorts of things and you have to be less ignorant about the situation ... '."
Like some of the others, she was involved in kapa haka and powhiri while at school but says her culture has become more important to her in recent times. She did not learn Maori at school because she would have had to do it on her own, by correspondence. However, her father has been studying Maori culture and history through Te Wananga o Aotearoa and the family is trying to incorporate the language into their daily lives.
Learning Te Reo is also on Haines Ellison's list of New Year's resolutions. Ellison grew up in Puketeraki (Karitane), near the marae where his mother worked as runaka executive officer, and remembers being one of the few pupils at Otago Boy's High School actively involved in Maori affairs - in his case, helping to mentor year 9 Maori pupils.
Suzie Bates, whose father is Maori and mother is Pakeha, says the Mana Pounamu event was the first time many of her school friends would have realised she was Maori.
"Growing up, I wasn't clearly identified as 'the Maori girl at school'. But I've always been proud to say I've got Maori blood. How much it is doesn't matter.""Being Maori is something you can't quantify ..." Kanoa Lloyd adds. "There's no right or wrong way to be Maori ... It's just a thing that you carry with you and you know about yourself and it comes out in lots of different ways."
