Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking is a bilingual play that follows the Tiri Mahana, a kuia (matriarch) born on the day Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed in 1840. (Yes, that makes her 185-years-old!) With her is her younger self, Tilly Mahana, who represents the rangatahi of today. In a behind the scenes Q&A, actors Miriama McDowell and Nī Dekkers-Reihana share their reflections on wāhine Māori resilience, the strength of rangatahi and language reclamation.
As Miriama McDowell steps into the role of a 185-year-old kuia, she can’t help but think about the world beyond the theatre walls.
“When we’re talking about the history of this country and what happened to its indigenous people, I can see images in my head of what I’ve seen in Gaza.
“That is incredible to me that as human beings, we can keep repeating the horrendous acts we do upon each other.
“For me, the Palestinian people have been very much in the room with us as we’ve made this show.”
From The Māori Worldview
In the new adaptation of Tiri: Te Araroa, written by Witi Ihimaera and directed by Katie Wolfe, audiences see Aotearoa’s history from a distinctly Māori worldview – through the eyes of Tiri Mahana, a 185-year-old kuia born the day Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed.
Tiri would have seen it all – the wars, land loss, language loss, colonisation, protest and resilience.
Played by Miriama McDowell (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), Tiri carries the weight of the nation’s history. On stage, she is both confronted and guided by her younger self, Tilly Mahana, portrayed by Nī Dekkers-Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou).
Short for Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Tiri tells the story of our lives as New Zealanders through a Māori worldview, says Miriama – one that many may not have had the chance to hear before.
Miriama will also be carrying a physical weight on her back, as she wears a kahu huruhuru with a seven-metre extension to represent Tiri’s long life.
“Tilly is an ever-present version of Tiri from a period of her life that was intense,” Nī explains.
“Tilly is a part of Tiri, and the way that I look at it, when we have unresolved traumas, we stay at that age.”
While the pair admit that the story has so much grief, they say the hefty story is balanced with comedy.
Nī (they/them) jokes that their character can be quite naughty sometimes, and Tiri “smacks them on the bum” with her tokotoko (walking stick).
Strength of Rangatahi and Wāhine
Nī’s source of inspiration to make Tilly Mahana relevant to today’s rangatahi is rangatahi themselves – a generation who’s had to be so aware of everything in a different way.
They speak of rangatahi in their own life, director Katie Wolfe’s kids, who walk proudly through the lens of te ao Māori, speak te reo Māori and have innate political interests and strengths.
“The state of the world is just so visibly wrong in so many aspects … so the vocal power of the rangatahi today is so inspiring.”
Nī also credits two wāhine Māori rising politicians – Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and Green Party MP Tamatha Paul – who are strongly resonating with younger audiences.
“They’re really political and strong and lots of kaha, but they’re also really cool … Fashionable and really strong.”
For Miriama and Nī, the resilience of wāhine Māori has been withstood over the the test of time, with Nī saying that because of what happened to their people, they had to be resilient.
Te Reo Māori on Stage
The 90-minute production is also Auckland Theatre Company’s first full-length bilingual mainstage work, where the actors will be performing in both te reo Māori and English.
The script, with additional writing by Maioha Allen and director Katie Wolfe, went into wānanga for a few months and was initially developed to be performed fluently in te reo Māori.
The wānanga was such a rich and beautiful experience, says Nī, where they were flooded with beautiful mātauranga Māori.
Though, there is lots of emotional complexities around it, says Nī. “There’s lots of mamae around not having my reo right there, and it does take lots of work.”
For Miriama, this process has helped her reclaim her reo. She says she speaks more te reo Māori at home with her whānau now because it’s become the first reo in her mind.
“That’s my dream, that it’s my the first reo in my brain all the time.”
Watch the full interview on Youtube now.
See Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking at the ASB Waterfront Theatre, 4–23 November 2025.