Kia ora! Ko Aroha Tamihana tōku ingoa, he uri au nō Ngāti Ranginui me Ngāti Raukawa ki Te Kaokaoroa-o-Pātetere.

I am a Māori graphic designer passionate about promoting the Māori language and culture through unique designs, products and resources.

I grew up overseas for the first decade of my life (born in the Philippines raised in Tajikistan). Upon our return to Aotearoa, I discovered that growing up separated from my Māori culture left me with many confronting emotions I had not had to deal with before – one being the ultimate shame attached to not speaking my own language. In 2015 I decided to do a one-year full immersion te reo Māori course with my pāpā, which was a pivotal moment in my reclamation journey. Since then, I have been incredibly passionate about helping others on their own journey and making te reo Māori more accessible in everyday life.

There are a range of reo Māori products available through my brand Maimoa Creative (greeting cards, art prints, games and more). I also share content on my social media platforms relating to the education of te reo Māori and empowering other indigenous people on their own reclamation journey.

As a graphic designer and brush-calligrapher, I take on a very limited number of commission/collaboration projects a year that focus on promoting te reo / ao Māori. A couple of notable projects I had the honour of being involved in was Kaupapa game by Kura Rēhia (a fun Māori board game for speakers and learners of te reo Māori), a collaboration product release with Konei called Kāri Māori (Māori inspired playing cards), and a collaboration with Teacherlatte to create a set of reo Māori teacher stamps.