Dame Hinewehi Mohi (born 1964) is a New Zealand musician and producer, best known for her double-platinum album ''

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

'' (1999) and its lead single " Kotahitanga (Union)", performing the New Zealand National Anthem in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, and as a producer for the 2019 Māori language compilation album ''

Waiata / Anthems ''Waiata / Anthems'' is compilation album by New Zealand artists, whereby they re-record previous songs from English to Māori language. It was released in New Zealand 6 September 2019 and it debuted at number 1 on the Official New Zealand Music ...

''. As a television producer, Mohi has worked to produce television programmes such as ''Mōteatea'' and ''Marae DIY''.

Early life

Mohi was born in

Waipukurau Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings. ...

in the

Hawke's Bay Region Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and is of

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative ...

and

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

descent. She attended St Joseph's Māori Girls' College in

Taradale, New Zealand Taradale is a suburb of the City of Napier, in the Hawke's Bay Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is a predominantly middle-upper class residential suburb, located 10 kilometres southwest of the centre of Napier. The Taradale w ...

, later receiving a BA in

from the

University of Waikato , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , cit ...

in 1985, where she was heavily involved with

kapa haka Kapa haka is the term for Māori action songs and the groups who perform them. It literally means 'group' () and 'dance' (). Kapa haka is an important avenue for Māori people to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identi ...

groups. At the University of Waikato, Mohi was mentored by musician and lecturer Hirini Melbourne.

Career

Mohi began working as a television producer in the mid-1980s, focusing on Māori-related content. In 1992, Mohi released her debut single "Kia Ū", a Māori language song describing the mistreatment of Māori in New Zealand. Mohi released her debut album ''Oceania'' in 1999, and was a success, becoming double platinum certified in New Zealand. The album, a collaboration with English producer

Jaz Coleman Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. Coleman is known for his unique raspy baritone voic ...

, blended Māori language lyrics, melodies and

taonga pūoro Taonga pūoro are the traditional musical instruments of the Māori people of New Zealand. The instruments previously fulfilled many functions within Māori society including a call to arms, dawning of the new day, communications with the gods ...

(traditional instruments) with a 1990s pop house sound. The album's success made Mohi, alongside

Moana and the Moahunters Moana Maree Maniapoto (born 22 June 1961) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and documentary maker. Widely considered one of New Zealand's most successful indigenous acts, her music is described as a fusion of traditional Māori haka, chants ...

, famous for being one of the few musical acts who promoted a distinctively Māori form of popular music. In 1999, Mohi performed the New Zealand National Anthem at the opening game of the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Mohi was asked to sing the anthem and she requested permission to sing it in both English and Māori but was told that she could only sing it in one language, with the unspoken expectation that it be performed in English. Mohi decided to sing the anthem in Māori instead, which received wide backlash in the New Zealand press at the time. Mohi was bemused by the reaction, after being immersed in spaces in New Zealand that had celebrated Māori culture. This proved to be a turning point, sparking a national conversation about cultural identity and the first language of New Zealand, and is the reason why the anthem had begun to be sung bilingually since the early 2000s. In the early 2000s, Mohi co-founded the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre with her husband George Bradfield. They were inspired to create the centre because of their daughter (who suffers from

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

) and her experiences with music therapy in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 2004 Mohi set up the television production company Raukatauri Productions, which has produced shows such as ''Mōteatea'' and ''Marae DIY'', which won the best reality show award at the

2007 Qantas Television Awards The 2007 Qantas Television Awards were presented on Saturday 24 November, in a ceremony at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, celebrating the year in New Zealand television and television media. The awards were hosted by television present ...

. In 2013, Mohi released ''Raukatauri – Te Puhi o Te Tangi'', an album reimagining her songs in collaboration with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra. Mohi produced and curated the 2019 album ''

'', a compilation album released for

te Wiki o te Reo Māori ( en, Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to ...

(Māori Language Week), where popular New Zealand musicians re-recorded their songs in Māori. The album debuted at number 1 on the

Official New Zealand Music Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Musi ...

. Due to the success of the album, the project was revived in 2021, becoming Waiata Anthems Week, an annual celebration of music recorded in Te Reo Māori. As a member of APRA, Mohi mentors musicians to promote the development of Māori music. In her capacity as Apra Amcos Māori development leader Mohi led the project of Lorde's te Reo Māori EP '' Te Ao Mārama''. Mohi sings on " Hua Pirau / Fallen Fruit".

Honours and recognition

Mohi was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

in the

2008 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...

for her services to Māori. In 2015, Mohi was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the

. She was inducted into the New Zealand Hall of Fame for Women Entrepreneurs in 2020. In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mohi was promoted to

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to Māori, music and television.

Personal life

Mohi's daughter was born in 1996. Mohi was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohi, Hinewehi 1964 births 20th-century New Zealand women singers 21st-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand Māori women singers Living people New Zealand women singer-songwriters New Zealand record producers New Zealand television producers Ngāi Tūhoe people Ngāti Kahungunu people People from Waipukurau University of Waikato alumni Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Māori-language singers Singers awarded knighthoods