It wasn’t easy growing up a ‘half caste’. I never quite knew where I fitted in. On one side, I always felt too black, and on the other, too white. My families loved me for me; they didn’t see a colour, but I still wasn’t like anybody else. I was born European-Māori, and was raised European-Samoan. That often gets a few sideways glances, but I think I’m so lucky.

Now, having two beautiful children who have a mixture of European (Irish, Scottish and English), Māori, Tokelauan and Samoan, they’re even luckier. Our daily mission, for us as a family, is to teach, nourish, and support our children to feel at home in their mix of cultures. And this is their “normal.”

An important part of our journey as a family is to acknowledge each of our cultures as being equal. In our house there is no hierarchy of cultures, as they are equal, and each is as important as the other.