NUKU is a movement amplifying Indigenous women across Aotearoa.

Founded on Māori principles and values, it draws inspiration from Papatūānuku, reflecting and honouring the ultimate female essence. The power of storytelling is evident in our earliest pūrākau. Stories can change the world. It is how our tūpuna passed on their knowledge, the blueprint for living well, for generations.

Through telling their stories, the women in this book seek to influence the world around them. The youngest is 14 and the eldest is in her mid-70s. They are wāhine Māori, Moriori, Pasifika, Melanesian, Wijadjuri, Himalayan and Mexican.

Led, created by and entirely about Indigenous women, NUKU prioritises and celebrates the wāhine experience; our ceremonies, our knowledge systems, our atua, our kaupapa, our lives.

These women and their stories dare to carve their own unique portrait, showing that the world can be positively shaped by our diverse and connected Indigenous voices. Stories about who we are, not who we've been told to be.