Qiane Matata-Sipu Wins Women Of Influence Award

Qiane Matata-Sipu, creator of NUKU, was announced to be the winner in the Arts & Culture section of the 2021 Women of Influence Awards. 

Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua ki Te Ahiwaru me Te Ākitai, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao and the Cook Islands) is a celebrated activist, photographer, and community leader. As well as being a co-founder of the SOUL Protect Ihumātao campaign, she is also the founder and creator of NUKU. NUKU is a creative social-impact storytelling movement profiling 100 Indigenous women through photography, audio podcast, video, live events, and now a self-published book.

She says: “Firstly I’d like to mihi to the other finalists in my category – they’re all incredible wāhine. I’m very humbled to receive this award. This isn’t just for me; it acknowledges the effort of my whānau at Ihumātao and the incredible contributions that Indigenous wāhine make every day. I encourage all wāhine to continue to disrupt the system, to prioritise wāhine voices to change the narrative, and to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world for our tamariki and mokopuna.”

Her book, NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women, came out in December 2021 and has already sold more than three thousand copies with a reprint on the way. It has received glowing reviews and has been longlisted for the Booksellers Aotearoa NZ Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction as part of the prestigious national Ockham NZ Book Awards. A book tour in January sold out venues around the motu.

Matata-Sipu is currently enrolled in Rumaki Reo, a te reo immersion diploma at Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa. 

She says: “Over the past few years I’ve dedicated my time to supporting kaupapa I’m passionate about. This year is about me reconnecting to my reo rangatira and taking some time to feed back into myself so that I can be of better service to my whānau, and the kaupapa i’m involved in.”

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