Reclaiming Cultural Identity: A Journey with 'Ei Moana

Kia ora, Kia Orana, warm Pacific greetings — reclaiming cultural identity is not simply a return to the past. It is a reawakening, a renewal, a conscious decision to step into one’s own story, embracing the wisdom of ancestors, the strength of community, and the clarity of belonging. At 'Ei Moana we believe this journey is vital — not just for individuals, but for whānau, for our communities, and for the collective future of Māori and Pasifika peoples.

Why reclamation matters

For many Indigenous people, especially Māori and Pasifika individuals born or raised away from their ancestral lands, there is often a period of disconnection — from language, culture, customs, or community. This dislocation can leave one feeling unanchored, adrift without a mooring. Reclaiming identity becomes a way of reconnecting: to whakapapa (ancestry), to values and worldviews grounded in the moana (ocean), whenua (land), and people.

As some scholars describe, reclaiming identity often includes unlearning internalised beliefs rooted in colonial hierarchies — challenging ideas that place dominant culture as “normal” and marginalise Indigenous ways of being. researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz+2MDPI+2

For many, reconnecting with culture becomes a spiritual and psychological transformation — identity reconceived not in fragments or shame, but with pride, purpose, and mana.

What reclamation can look like

• Learning or reviving language and stories. Whether it’s te reo Māori or Pacific languages, the act of speaking, singing, or hearing one’s ancestral tongue can awaken deep belonging. As one Māori woman shared in a recent story, reclaiming her reo gave her grounding, identity, and strength. Te Ao Māori News+1

• Knowing whakapapa and pepeha — acknowledging who you are, where you come from, and who you carry within you. Whakapapa roots you to ancestors, land, sea, history, and values that transcend personal biography.

• Re-engaging with customs, spirituality, worldviews. Culture is more than heritage — it’s ways of being, relating, healing, being in harmony with environment, community, and self. As described in research on Indigenous worldviews, connection to whenua, moana and ancestral stories provides deep context for identity, spirituality, and belonging. MDPI+1

• Community, relationships and shared spaces. Identity isn’t just individual — our belonging is embedded in whānau, wider community, shared history, collective resilience. As an individual reclaims, that reclamation radiates outward, strengthening collective identity, cultural continuity, and mutual support.

  
  

The role of Ei Moana

At Ei Moana we walk alongside people on this path of reclamation. Through mentoring, cultural advocacy, personal growth partnerships, and Indigenous-centred coaching and support — we aim to provide safe, nurturing spaces for people to explore their identity, reclaim what’s been suppressed, and re-establish connections: to language, culture, community, and self. Ei Moana Consultants+2Ei Moana Consultants+2

We know that this journey may come with challenges: confronting disconnection, internalised shame, or confusion. But we also know its promise: clarity, strength, resilience, rootedness, empowerment — individually, and for our communities.

A call to begin

If you ever find yourself feeling unmoored, like parts of your heritage are distant, incomplete, or unknown — know this: reclaiming isn’t about proving anything to others. It’s about coming home to yourself. It’s about honouring the moana that flows through your blood, the ancestors who walked before, the land and sea that birthed you, and the community that holds you.

We at Ei Moana believe that every journey — big or small — matters. Whether you begin with a question, a desire, a memory, or a longing — take that first step. Reach out. Explore. Learn. Speak. Connect. Reclaim.

Together, we can walk in the strength of our roots, with the wisdom of the moana, toward futures that honour where we come from and who we are.