Talk:Hinemoana Baker

hei whakamāori

Hinemoana Baker is a writer, musician and radio producer living on the Kapiti Coast, in New Zealand's North Island.

Her debut collection of poetry, 'mātuhi | needle', was co-published in 2004 by Victoria University Press in Wellington and by actor Viggo Mortensen's publishing house, Perceval Press, in Santa Monica, USA.

Hinemoana's first album, 'puāwai', was also launched at that time, and has been a finalist in two national music awards since then: the New Zealand Music Awards 2004 and the APRA Silver Scroll Awards (Maioha category) in 2005.

Hinemoana traces her Ngāi Tahu ancestry through her father, Valentine Rangiwaititi Baker, whose grandfather was Piri Ellison. They belong to the Ngāti Moki Tuarua hapū of Ngāi Tahu, which bases itself at Otākou marae, on the Otākou peninsula, just out of Dunedin.

She also has whakapapa connections to the Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Te Āti Awa tribes in the North Island. On her mother's side (Leona Exton née Döell), she traces back to England and Bavaria.