Ramon Te Wake (born 25 March 1976) is a New Zealand

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and s ...

documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Her first presenting job was for

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 ...

, where she was one of three people fronting '' Takatāpui'', which is Maori Television's first ever

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

show.

Early life

Te Wake was born in

Dargaville Dargaville ( mi, Takiwira) is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the bank of the Northern Wairoa River in the Kaipara District of the Northland region. The town is located 55 kilometres southwest of Whangāre ...

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 ...

parents Ray and Tilly Te Wake."The Making of Ramon"
documentary film She is the decentdant of Heremia Te Wake who was a notable tribe leader, who is the father of respected kuia (

elder),

Dame Whina Cooper Dame Whina Cooper (9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a respected ( Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for leading the 1975 Māori ...

. She grew up in Ascot Park, a suburb in Porirua. She moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

in the early 1990s, and then to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

shortly after.

Music

She released her debut EP, ''The Arrival'' in 2002 and toured New Zealand in R&B / Funk band Pure Funk during 1995 and 1996. In June 2005 she received a grant of up to $15,000 to record a new CD from Te Waka Toi, the Màori arts board of Creative New Zealand. Her second album, ''Movement is Essential'', came out in 2008. In 2008 Ramon started a DJ residency at Kiss bar called "Delicious Thursdays." She is also a well known model and "the first transgender girl to appear in music video clips and a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

commercial." In 2005 Te Wake joined

King Kapisi Bill Rangi Urale is a New Zealand-Samoan hip-hop artist. Music career He was signed up as an artist with Festival Mushroom Records (NZ). In 2000 he released his critically acclaimed debut album ''Savage Thoughts'', followed by a second album, ...

in presenting '' Pasifika 2005'' festival, the biggest

Polynesian culture Polynesian culture is the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. The development of Polynesian culture is typically divided into four different historical eras: *Exploration and se ...

festival in the world held in

every year since 1992, it was televised on TV2.

TV

Her first presenting job was for

, where she was one of three people fronting Takatāpui, which is Maori Television's first ever

show. The show began in 2004 and still continues today. Ramon's storytelling was noted by ''Scoop Independent News'' as "strong, creative and visual." Ramon's most celebrated work from the programme was the coverage of the 2011 death of activist Carmen Rupe. She had made a documentary of Rupe's life in 2006. In 2008 she was one of several actors selected to portray

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (born November 1957) is a New Zealand politician and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 2005 she became the world's ...

, a

who became the world's

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

openly

transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignmen ...

mayor, as well as the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, in a feature-length film. In 2009 ''The Making of Ramon'' was a Takatāpui-produced documentary about Ramon which was aired as part of Triangle TV's ''Sunday Nights Out''. In 2011 Te Wake directed a 25-minute video "Pacific Voices" for the NZ AIDS Foundation addressing issues and lives of Pacific LGBT people "such as identity, sexual health, bullying and

family estrangement Family estrangement is the loss of a previously existing relationship between family members, through physical and/or emotional distancing, often to the extent that there is negligible or no communication between the individuals involved for a pr ...

" the project "offers hope through mutual support and self-determination." She has co-directed two series with Damon Fepulia'i, ''Inky Pinky Ponky'' (2023) and most recently ''The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between (2024),'' credited also as the Writer.

Discography

Albums

*The Arrival (2002) *Movement is Essential (2008)

Music videos

*To The Core (2007) *Still Remains (2010)

Filmography

Feature films

* '' Rūrangi''

Short films

*The Preacher Man (2004) *The Johnny Doo Good Show (2005) *AROHA – K' Road Stories (2015) * GURL (2020)

TV

*Takataapui (2005) *Neighbourhood (2016) * Queens of Panguru (2017) *Inky Pinky Ponky (2023) written by

Amanaki Prescott-Faletau Amanaki Lelei Prescott-Faletau is an actor, writer, dancer, choreographer, producer and director of Tongan descent, living in New Zealand. As a playwright, she became the first fakaleitī to have her work published in New Zealand with ''Inky Pi ...

, co-directed by Damon Fepulea’i *The Boy, The Queen, and Everthing in Between (2024) Written by Ramon Te Wake, co-directed by Damon Fepulia'i

Theatre

*People Like Us (2016)

References

External links

November round up – part 2

Reinventing Ramon , Express Online

A capital, a fair , Express Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Wake, Ramon 1976 births Living people New Zealand LGBT singers New Zealand LGBT songwriters New Zealand LGBT broadcasters New Zealand LGBT models New Zealand Māori broadcasters People from Dargaville LGBT DJs Transgender female models Transgender singers Transgender songwriters Transgender women musicians New Zealand transgender women New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand women singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters Takatāpui 21st-century New Zealand women singers 21st-century New Zealand songwriters 20th-century New Zealand LGBT people 21st-century New Zealand LGBT people