The rise of 'pretendians'

As part of Myjanne's exploration into the topic of Māori identity and indigeneity more broadly, Myjanne says she came across a phenomenon called 'pretendians' (Pretend Indians). According to Anishnaabe man and native filmmaker Drew Hayden Taylor, the past decade in Canada has seen a flood of white people being outed as 'pretendians', after claiming to be native when they weren't. He's now created a documentary on the topic and speaks to Myjanne about it. Dr Margaret Mutu also shares her take on the issue and what she feels defines someone as indigenous in the Māori context.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Om Podcasten

Growing up in Australia with a Danish father and a Māori-Pakeha mother, Myjanne Jensen always had this sense of not feeling Māori "enough". After moving back to Te Hiku o Te Ika – the Far North – in 2021, she started her journey of coming home and trying to better connect to her roots. Over seven episodes, Myjanne will kōrero with a number of incredible people about their own stories of what it means to be Māori, making that cultural connection, and the complexity of being mixed-race. All this with the hope of turning the conversation away from not "feeling enough" to instead, understanding how to connect with the Māoritanga already living inside you. New episodes every Tuesday and Friday.