ABOUT US | KO WAI MĀTOU
OUR CORE VALUES | Ō MĀTOU TIKANGA
At Learn Māori Abroad we are committed to providing authentic, one-of-a-kind Māori cultural experiences and high-quality, educational classes and workshops for learners living in Aotearoa & abroad.
Our language and cultural classes are based on the following core values:
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WHAKAMANA: To empower learners living in Aotearoa & abroad to engage with Te Reo Māori (the Māori language), Kapa Haka (traditional Māori performing arts) and Te Ao Māori (Māori culture).
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WHANAUNGATANGA: To create a strong sentence of community and connectedness amongst learners living around the world. To foster inclusivity and diversity in the Māori language and culture learning space.
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TOMONGA: To make learning Māori language and culture accessible through online classes, workshops, resources, course materials and scholarship programs.
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TAUTOKO: To support you on your Māori language and culture journey in a safe, nurturing and non-judgmental environment.
We invite you to join us for a language, kapa haka or culture session so you can experience our Learn Māori Abroad values for yourself!
OUR TEAM | TŌ MĀTOU WHĀNAU
AMELIA BUTLER
Founder | Rangatira & Teacher | Kaiako
Ko Huruiki te maunga
Ko Punaruku te awa
Ko Mātaatua te waka
Ko te Uri o Hikihiki te hapū
Ko Ngātiwai, Ko Ngāpuhi, Ko Ngāti Awa ngā iwi
Ko Mokau o Whangaruru te marae
Ko Amelia Butler ahau
Amelia Butler is an indigenous Māori performer, dancer, choreographer and instructor from Aotearoa New Zealand. She has been teaching and performing dance at an international level for over 20 years. Amelia moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue a career in dance and has worked as a professional dancer in the LA entertainment industry. She founded and leads Los Angeles based traditional Māori performance group, Ngā Ānahera Māori, teaches te reo Māori online and teaches haka & poi workshops in the US. Amelia is the Māori Language Lecture at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa. Her tribal affiliations are Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Awa. She is proud to share her culture abroad.
CHRIS DOUBLE
Teacher | Kaiako
Ko Orohena te maunga
Ko Ha’apape te whenua
Ko Vaipopo’o te awa
Ko Fareroi te marae
Nō Tahiti, Nō Pitikeina, Nō Ingarani ōku tūpuna
Ko Chris tōku ingoa
Chris Double grew up in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) and now lives in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). Chris is a descendent of the mutineers of the HMAV Bounty and the Tahitian women that joined them. Through his passion to learn more about his Pacific
ancestry and the encouragement of his Uncle, a fluent te reo Māori speaker, he has studied te reo Māori for a number of years through Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi and Learn Māori Abroad. Recently Chris has been studying te reo Mā’ohi (the Tahitian language) to further his knowledge of his tūpuna (ancestors).
When he’s not learning languages you can find Chris at music venues around town working on his hobby of gig photography or exercising his other passion, computer programming. Chris acknowledges those who passed on their knowledge of te reo Māori to him and is excited to contribute to the growth of the Māori language by passing that knowledge along
through teaching and normalising of the use of te reo Māori in
everyday life.
ALEC REDVERS-HILL
Teacher | Kaiako
Ko Ngāi Haina te iwi
Ko Rī te hapū
Nō Aotearoa ahau
I whānau mai i Tāmaki-Makaurau
I tipu ake i te taha o Maungakiekie
E noho ana i te taha o te Waitematā
Alec Redvers-Hill was born, raised and, after a few stints overseas, currently lives in Tāmaki-Makaurau, Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand. Alec has been a language teacher both in his home country and abroad for over ten years in universities, school, private tuition, community and outreach programs, and online. He has a Graduate Diploma of Arts specialising in English and Māori and a Master of Teaching and Education Leadership. Whether as a teacher, writer, translator, mentor, or fellow learner, he’s always working to encourage engagement with language and cross-linguistic exchange and understanding, especially the continued growth, spread, and vitality of te reo Māori, including recently presenting on the language at Polyglot Conference 2021.
EVELYN TANGIRA
Teacher | Kaiako
KKo Whanokao te Maunga
Ko Kereu te Awa
Ko Kahurautao te Hapū
Ko Pāhāōa te Marae
Ko Te Paripari Te Kainga
Ko Evelyn Tangira toku ingoa
No Te Whanua a Apanui me Ngati Kahungunu oku iwi
Evelyn Tangira was born in Gisborne, Aotearoa and has been living abroad in Perth, Western Australia for twenty-nine years. Her journey learning Māori language started thirty four years ago with her first child at Kohanga Reo, but really the influence had been surrounding her since birth. She remembers sitting with her grandmother making kete, singing and talking all in Maori. Evelyn went to Hukarere Maori Girls collage in Napier, learning daily karakia, attending kappa haka sessions and as the youngest went on tour where she was asked to karanga at a marae in Tolaga Bay. When she graduated from high school, her first job offer was with Ngati Porou Outdoor Pursuits, with kaupapa Maori being the way they worked. She even showcased on Maori TV in a documentry when doing a hikoi from Ngati Porou to Te Whanau A Apanui with a group (including elders) following a tipuna trail. Then her grandchildren started arriving which brought the sweet sounds of Maori waiata and korero thoughout the house. Recently Evelyn joined Learn Maori Abroard for a formal education to learn conversational Te Reo and has completed the Beginners and Beginners Advance courses.
Evelyn works in cultural heritage management with local aboriginal traditional owners within the mining industry.
LEE STUART
Teacher | Kaiako & Social Media Manager | Pae Pāpāho Pāpori
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Whakamoehau te maunga
Ko Hikutaia te awa
Ko Ngāti Pū te iwi
Ko Ngāti Rangiwhakaea, ko Ngāti Rangirangi, ko Ngāti Rangipakihi ōku hapū
Ko Hikutaia te marae
Ko Lee ahau
Lee Stuart was born and raised in Waitohi, Aotearoa (Picton, New Zealand), and has been a Pōneke (Wellington) local for the last seven years. She studied te reo Māori through high school and immersed herself in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world); from leading her school kapa haka rōpū to writing waiata Māori (Māori songs) for her school choir, and participating in the national Ngā Manu Kōrero Speech Competitions each year. In 2014, Lee won a nationally televised singing competition on Whakaata Māori (Māori Television) - Hōmai Te Pakipaki.
After completing her GDip Tchg (Secondary) in 2018, Lee decided to purse a GDip Arts in Māori Studies. Inspired by her studies, she started a kaupapa Māori virtual assistant business to assist and empower Māori businesses through the values and principles of Te Ao Māori. She is on a personal mission to reclaim her family's lost history and is set to be the first member of her family to speak te reo Māori in several generations.
As well as teaching for Learn Māori Abroad Lee provides unique, educational and inspiring content for our Social Media channels. To view her posts click here & here.
ALEXANDER SARSFIELD
Teacher | Kaiako
Ko Mātaatua, ko Tohorā ngā waka
Ko Mauao, ko Te Rae-o-Te-Papa ngā maunga
Ko Tauranga te moana
Ko Uretara, ko Waihou ngā awa
Ko Ngāi te Rangi, ko Ngāti Hako ngā iwi
Ko Ngāi Tamawhariua te hapū
Ko Te Rereatukahia, Ko Tirohia ngā marae
Ko Alexander Sarsfield ahau
Alexander Sarsfield was born and lives on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country (Canberra, Australia). Connecting with Te Ao Māori and Te Reo Māori as an adult, Alex first joined Learning Māori Abroad as a student for Amelia's Intermediate class in 2021. Alex is passionate about sharing his knowledge of Te Ao Māori, supporting others who have grown up out of Aotearoa with their own haerenga (journey).
Alex holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and visual art. His research work in psychology focuses on the ways Indigenous peoples find belonging in urban environments. In his art practice, Alex works primarily with uku (clay) and harakeke (flax). The past year, he has facilitated one-on-one workshops to teach others the practice of raranga (traditional Māori weaving).
AUSTIN HAYNES
Teacher | Kaiako
Nō Kotarani, nō Airani, nō Ataria ōku tūpuna
Ko Hill o Beath te maunga o tōku whānau
Ko Tatha, ko Linne Foirthe ngā wai tūpuna
Ko Hay, ko MacLabhrainn ōku hapū
Ko Austin Haynes ahau
I tipu ake au i raro i te maru o Aoraki maunga
kei te tahatika o Birrarung awa hoki
Ka mihi atu ahau ki a Kāi Tahu, ki ngā iwi Kulin
Ngā tāngata whenua o aua ro
Austin Haynes was born in Aotearoa New Zealand, growing up between Ōtākou (Otago) and Wurundjeri Country in Australia. He is Pākehā (New Zealander of European descent) and his ancestors came to Aotearoa from the 1850s onwards from Scotland (MacLabhrainn and Hay Clans), Ireland, and Austria. Austin began his reo journey with Learn Māori Abroad in 2020. He was initially inspired by several of his ancestors who had immersed themselves in te reo Māori and te ao Māori. Austin quickly fell in love with te reo and is passionate about sharing what he has learned with others on their own haerenga (journeys).
Austin is also an opera singer and now lives in Rānana (London). He is currently studying for a Masters degree in Literature, for which he is researching the history of te reo Māori translations of English language literature from Shakespeare to folksongs. Austin is a poet and writes in both English and te reo Māori. He hopes one day to be able to write poetry in Scottish Gaelic, the indigenous language of many of his ancestors, and to help create a world where te reo Māori and other indigenous languages are spoken, written and celebrated everywhere!
Buainidh aon fhacal ceud.
Whakatōria te kupu kotahi, hauhakea te kupu rau.
One word sown, one hundred at harvest. (Scottish Gaelic Proverb)