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Writer's pictureAmanda Riddell

Am I Māori?

Short answer: no. Long answer: possibly. I was watching New Zealand Today - which was quite funny - and that last bit with the white kid with a machine gun made me laugh. ThreeNow is not a very good streaming service, though. I thought I'd complain about that. - I turned the adblocker off, and it was still bloody useless. - I mostly stuck to the line that I have Māori relatives but I'm not Māori myself. ie the Paul Goldsmith response. For the record, 2 of my nieces and nephews are half-Māori, and one of my cousin's kids. - To be fair, there is some whakapapa within my Riddell family, and Māori aren't quite as concerned with bloodlines as white people. From the original 12 kids that Pater Riddell had, there were a few intermarriages, but those are from other bloodlines. However, apparently the entire whānau used to gather on one of the islands that he purchased when my Dad was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's. Re: Pasifika relations, via my Dad's cousin I met Fijian relatives. That was truly spooky: their nana was so much like Olga that the relationship between us was obvious. -

That thing about the ice cream is one of the stupidest interpretations of my films that I've ever heard of, particularly given that (white) lemon gelato from the Big Smoke. 🥑 If I was to take a stab at explaining a complete coincidence, I would say that the Big Smoke represents how it feels to be white and a druggie, while Three Sad Waltzes was about the other reality. 🤣

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Amanda Riddell
Amanda Riddell
Feb 16

Being funny: I totally think there's a Maui comparison to be made. I'm the second-youngest kid from the youngest bloodline. My cousin Claire is younger than me, but I'm the youngest in my family (5 minutes younger than my twin brother).

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