Seven homes, centuries of resistance, one quiet revolution in brick and blood memory.
Season 1 • Episode 7
LatestThe Reweti Homestead is estimated to be more than 120 years old and has been in their whānau for five generations. Situated in Hairini with stunning views of Mauao and the harbour, this Ngāi Te Ahi whānau have seen the rapid growth and development of Tauranga and have worked hard to hold on to their tūrangawaewae.
The stories of homesteads through the eyes of the people that occupy them, exploring the culturally significant role they've played in maintaining Māori ties to their ancestral land.
Direction
Patient storytelling that trusts viewers to meet the material.
Cinematography
Landscapes that feel like characters watching back.
Production
Access built on genuine community relationships, not extraction.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Homesteads emerged from a 2019 Māori Television initiative specifically centering kaupapa Māori documentary sovereignty, with crews predominantly Māori.
The 'homestead' framing deliberately reclaims a Pākehā settler word, redeploying it for Māori land tenure systems that predate colonization by centuries.
NZ
