Oriini Kaipara (born 1983) is a New Zealand

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 ...

broadcaster, journalist and translator and interpreter of te reo Māori and English. Kaipara has worked for

Mai FM Mai FM is New Zealand's largest urban contemporary radio network, promoting Māori language and culture and broadcasting hip hop and rhythm and blues. It is located in Auckland, and is available in ten markets around the country. The network targ ...

TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tahi) is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as indep ...

Māori Television 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 Co ...

, and

Three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

. She currently co-hosts Three's weekly political current affairs show ''Newshub Nation.'' In 2019 Kaipara was the first person with a ''moko kauae''

tā moko ' is the permanent marking or " tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian). (tattooi ...

facial tattoo to present mainstream television news. In 2021 she became the first such person to host a primetime news program on national television.

Early life

Kaipara was born in

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, whi ...

in 1983. Her

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

are Tūhoe,

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

, Tūwharetoa and

Ngāti Rangitihi Ngāti Rangitihi is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, located in the Bay of Plenty. The tribe is part of the greater Te Arawa confederation of tribes. Nga pumanawa e waru o Te Arawa, the 8 beating hearts of Te Arawa derives from the 8 children of th ...

. She attended a

Kura Kaupapa Māori Kura Kaupapa Māori are Māori-language immersion schools () in New Zealand where the philosophy and practice reflect Māori cultural values with the aim of revitalising Māori language, knowledge and culture. Kura kaupapa Māori are establish ...

, and trained at South Seas Film and Television School in 2002.

Career

Kaipara was a newsreader at Mai FM, and then in 2004 joined TVNZ's fully te reo Māori ''Waka Huia'' as a reporter and director. In 2017, the Māori Television programme ''Native Affairs,'' which she presented, revealed she has essentially pure Māori DNA, despite having some

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

ancestry. She received her ''moko kauae'' facial tattoo in January 2019 while she was a journalist for TVNZ's Te Karere. In November 2019 she was the first person with a ''moko kauae'' to present mainstream television news on TVNZ's One News. In May 2021 she moved to Three and began presenting news on the programme ''Newshub Live at 4.30pm.'' In February 2022 Kaipara joined Simon Shepherd as co-host of Three's weekly political current affairs show ''Newshub Nation''. As host, she is valued for her conversational fluency in both Māori and English, her approach to political issues that are important to Māori, and her commitment to the renewal of both te reo Māori and

tikanga Māori Tikanga is a Māori concept incorporating practices and values from mātauranga Māori, Māori knowledge. Tikanga is translated into the English language with a wide range of meanings — culture, custom, ethic, etiquette, fashion, formali ...

Recognition

In 2008, Kaipara won the best female television presenter award at the Māori Media Awards. In 2018, Kaipara won the Voyager award for Best Māori Affairs Reporter for her work on ''Native Affairs'' for Māori Television''.'' In 2021 Kaipara received international recognition for being the first person to host a primetime news program on national television, with traditional facial markings.

Personal life

Kaipara lives in West Auckland and has four children. In 2020 Kaipara was upset by a portrait painted of her without permission by Auckland artist Samantha Payne. After talking with Kaipara, the artist apologised and removed the portrait from public sale.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaipara, Oriini 1983 births Living people Ngāi Tūhoe people Ngāti Awa people Ngāti Tūwharetoa people Ngāti Rangitihi people People from Whakatāne New Zealand television presenters New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand Māori broadcasters New Zealand Māori women

Early life

Career

Recognition

Personal life

See also

References