It’s been a season of beginnings and endings for Miriama Kamo. Photo / Amalia Osborne
The popular broadcaster will host a new series aimed at sharing ideas.
With Matariki upon us, celebrated broadcaster Miriama Kamo’s thoughts always turn to her beloved late father, Raynol.
“He was so funny and silly, and loved making people laugh,” remembers Miriama, 51. “If he could make you laugh, he was happy. But he was also wise and clever.”
Matariki is traditionally a time of reflection, to remember those who have died and to look forward and plan for the year ahead.
“Dad died during lockdown,” she recalls. “We didn’t get to have a tangi for him, so it’s always Dad I think of.”
Raynol died in August 2021 during a Level 4 lockdown, aged 89.
In his last years, Miriama was actively involved in caring for her father, who had dementia. He lived with her, husband Mike, 58, and their children Sam, now 25, and Te Rerehua-Hinehaka, 13. He wanted to be in Auckland to be closer to his 15 moko [grandchildren].
“I feel him around a lot. I was just telling Te Rerehua I feel like he’s around,” smiles Miriama.
Taking a breath, she shares, unexpectedly, that writing the book Matariki Around the World in 2022, with close friend Māori astronomy scholar Dr Rangi Matamua, was deeply healing.
“Rangi was really key in me being able to process that grief,” she says. “When we wrote the book, he told me, ‘I’m not going to write an acknowledgement, I want you to use that space for your dad. Taramainuku will be releasing him into the heavens, so use this space and time to acknowledge him.’”
In the Māori world, Taramainuku collects the spirits of those who have passed during the year and carries them on his waka until they are released as stars when the Matariki constellation rises again.
“Rangi didn’t just make space, he helped put a framework around my grief for my father.”
This year, their book has been translated into te reo Māori by mātanga [skilled] reo experts Pānia Papa and Leon Blake, and rereleased as Matariki ki te Ao.
As her thoughts return to the living, Miriama shares that it has also become a joyous time of year for her to be with whānau and friends.
“I’m so grateful Rangi [whose teachings played a leading role in Matariki being recognised as a public holiday] brought this mātauranga [knowledge] back to our country, because for me it’s really helped frame my year,” she says.
“My daughter said it’s her most favourite of all the holidays, and it’s the one where she doesn’t get presents! It’s about being present, and she just loves when we do things together.”
This year they’ll be attending a hautapu [dawn ceremony where karakia are offered to the stars of Matariki] at Te Rerehua’s school and embracing a new tradition with a big dinner party at home.
“The feast marks the end of the year,” Miriama shares. “But it’s also our chance with our mates to mark hopes and dreams for the year to come.”
According to maramataka [the Māori lunar calendar], the rising of the Matariki constellation, also known around the world as Pleiades, signals a new year.
Next year, Miriama wants to deepen her focus on how she can use her skills to support and benefit others.
“I was raised by two parents who were guided by the principle of service,” she admits. “That’s always been a strong guiding force for all five of their kids. So, how can I be of use? How can I live my life in a way that is meaningful, not just for me, but creates change if it can for others? I don’t want to sound too grand, but I’m driven by the idea that I want to give back.”
She will continue to embrace opportunities to uplift others through her role as Te Koruru/patron of the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards and in her passion for writing and zero-waste living.
In 2018, Miriama set herself a one-month, zero-waste challenge. Seven years on, she’s more passionate than ever about reducing her impact on the Earth and encouraging others to do the same.
“It’s a really big deal for me,” she shares. “It’s about trying to get people to work with the planet, rather than against it.
“People say one individual can’t make a change, but as seven billion individuals, we absolutely can.
“The easiest, most effective thing you can do in your own home is to reduce food waste. Fifty per cent of household waste is kai, and that can be up to $1500 a year per household. That’s a lot of wasted money!”
By this time next year, Miriama will have written eight books – and she’s warming up to the idea that she can now call herself an author.
“Although I’ve published a bunch of books, I never really felt like I’d earned the right to be called an author,” she muses.
“But I think I can start calling myself that now.
“Most of my books are around Matariki and te ao Māori [the Māori worldview] because I want our kids to have books about themselves and be excited about what it means to be Māori.”
Long term, her dream is for all New Zealanders to live in a nation “where people feel proud to live in this country, walking alongside each other”.
She hopes The Elephant, an in-progress NZME-supported series, developed by Herd Productions (the company she set up with several close friends after TVNZ current affairs show Sunday was cancelled last year), will play a role in encouraging unity.
“The Elephant stands for the elephant in the room,” she explains. “The idea is to get people to talk about things they might typically be worried could get them ‘cancelled’. We want to host debates and discussions which cast light, and in a way that leaves everyone feeling whole.
“The guiding principle is to have a contest of ideas, not a conflict, to discuss and debate without belittling.”
One such topic Miriama and fellow host and best friend Mark Crysell will explore is, “What does it mean to be Pākehā?”
It’s a concept Miriama’s been considering personally.
“My worldview is Māori, but I want to explore more deeply what it is to be Pākehā as well,” she says.
“We’re all settlers in one way or another. Our indigenous people came here, lived by the land, and our whole worldview is to take care of it. We were joined hundreds of years later by people who wanted to thrive in this country and had to break their backs to find a place here, too.”
While Miriama’s mum, Mary, is Pākehā, she says both her parents were dedicated to ensuring their children were strong and confident in their Māoritanga [Māori culture].
“My mum is proud of her roots in Ireland and Scotland, but she’s very Māori-minded. To honour her, I’d like to know more about my Pākehā side.
“We talk a lot about being not Māori enough or too Māori and our inability to walk together comfortably. I think a lot of that stems from fear and not knowing each other.”
Miriama’s also preparing to travel to Antarctica this August with Rangi as they film a Te Mangai Paho-funded documentary on how mātauranga [knowledge] is transported around the world.
“I think the world of this man, he’s incredible,” she enthuses. “When he said he was going to Antarctica, I said, ‘I’m going too’.”
The harsh and sometimes dangerous climate requires her to undergo an ECG running test, and preparing for the adventure has given Miriama pause to contemplate her own hauora [wellbeing].
“I hate exercise so much,” she laughs. “But I have to pull finger. It’s an unforgiving environment and very hard on the body.
“I’m in the second half of my life, so it’s time for me to really look at my health to secure my wellbeing into the future.”
Despite dreading the workouts, Miriama says she’s incredibly grateful to be working on the project, which will screen on TVNZ during Matariki in 2026.
In fact, one year on since she and her colleagues lost their jobs at Sunday, gratitude is the overarching feeling she’s left with.
“There was grief,” she shares. “We fought for the programme, but I took the view that I’ve done this for 22 years and, wow, I’m so lucky I got to do that programme for so long. Most people don’t get a long run in television.”
She still proudly fronts the weekly Māori current affairs show Marae.
It’s been a season of beginnings and endings – and in no longer hosting Sunday, she’s felt a deep appreciation that she knows herself outside of the limelight too.
“I didn’t tie my identity to TVNZ and my job at Sunday,” she says. “That was a really deliberate decision early in my career there. So, when it finished, I didn’t crumble and feel like it was the end of the world.”
So, who is Miriama then?
She pauses for a minute before answering, “I’m a storyteller in whatever format I get to do that.
“Beyond the core things, like being a parent, being Māori, and a daughter and a sister and all those other things, I’m a storyteller.”
NY Times: Few stars win over critics and convey Old Hollywood glamour as effortlessly.