Story
Reshaping Reality, One Story At A Time.
Ko te whaea te takere o te waka
Mothers are the hull of the waka (ship) | Whakataukī (Māori proverb)
Kōpū, the Māori (Aotearoa New Zealand indigenous language) word for womb, symbolises the profound life-giving power of mothers. Kōpū also denotes the Māori word for Venus as the morning star - a persistent feminine symbol in many Western cultures and a guiding star in countless provincial religions.
Ranga Wairua | Inspiration
Our initiatives draw on the profound wisdom of Te Ao Māori to transform how we value caregivers. Marginalise in our Western societies, despite being revered as the backbone of our communities, relegated to the sidelines despite bearing the heaviest loads, unpaid for their contribution to our economies despite nurturing the past or the next generation, mothers and caregivers as a whole, have often been coined with the most ungratifying terminologies. A vocabulary that would eventually shape our perception of the role and its value.
While motherhood archetypes have subtly evolved, stereotypes and discriminations have remained steadfast. Our content seeks to reexamine and revitalise our understanding of the experience. We aim to unpack the extensive skills developed, affirming the profound source of capability and wisdom that caregiving holds.
Taikura | Starting point
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”. Maya Angelou
Our tale commences by painting similarities between two diverse entries into motherhood. One starts with Claire Pellegrino, a French immigrant living in New Zealand, recounting her unexpected motherhood kickoff within the walls of an abortion ward. The other begins with Krystal Burrell, a Māori wāhine (Indigenous woman of Aotearoa New Zeland), with a fraught journey as a teenage mother emerging from an abusive relationship.
Like many women raised within a patriarchal culture riddled with daily unconscious bias, both believed motherhood would be an obstacle to their professional aspirations. Despite their cultural background contrast, both acknowledged the servitude rooted in the role.
Yet, their perception pivoted drastically when confronted with a different viewpoint.
For Claire, in a “Westernised method”, her mindset shifted through market research involving interviews with a wide array of parents. Each conversation illuminated parallels between entrepreneurial skills and those honed through parenting: skills like empathy, resilience, creativity, problem-solving, and leadership thrown about the boardroom as necessary to success, were discreetly strengthened through caregiving. For Krystal, she found solace after reconnecting with Te Ao Māori
- the Indigenous universe, where motherhood’s value was restored.
Our story draws inspiration from the multifaceted nature of motherhood, showcasing diverse voices and intertwining ancestral wisdom with scientific insights.
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“I have been asking men how many would swap their present job to be the main child caregiver at home. It's my read that 80% of them default to a view that this is not their role or at least think they actually have other priority roles.
To me this is the legacy of the gender inequality issues we face.”
— Te Aroha Grace (Stuff, 2022) “The persistent gender pay gap, particularly in relation to indigenous women, shows we don't value motherhood”
Whāinga | Objective
Power is in which story we tell our brain to believe. With kōpū we are gently moving the Overton window to change to the tenor of the conversation around motherhood and caregiving as a whole.
Anchored in this progressive outlook, we explore parenting stories by bringing in participants of diverse genders, cultures and demographics for an intimate peek into the fruits of their journeys. We embraces a multi-ethnic approach to the subject while weaving science with indigenous perspicuity to examine motherhood's unsung values.
This story coincides with a global transition in how work, gender roles, governance and sustainability are perceived. Traditional models like the 9 to 5, 5-day work week are becoming untenable as our planet is beset by the unintended consequences of capitalist greed and overreach. Enter the mother, historically curbed beneath glass ceilings yet possessing the skills needed to mould enduring societies.
Can we reframe parenting as a strength instead of an obstacle? If we were to regard motherhood as a training ground to upskill, what impact could it have on workplaces? Could the fusion of Indigenous wisdom and science lead to greater gender equity? How would our world appear when we turn to caregivers - the nurturers of our past and future, to address global challenges?
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Te Ara Ki Tua | What’s next
Can we transform our perception of parenting from a barrier to a catalyst for growth?
Worldwide, especially in countries where Indigenous communities have experienced disrupted familial ties, it is crucial to embrace change.
Envision the profound transformation that could unfold if we collectively acknowledged caregiving as enhancers of our abilities rather than burdens that penalise us.
What profound impact could rethinking parental leave have on pursuing gender equity?
For too long, caregiving has been narrowly viewed as a mere domestic duty, leading to persistent biases against working parents and a scarcity of opportunities for them to fully utilise their newly developed skills.
We are committed to broadcasting these transformative stories through every medium at our disposal—be it documentaries, podcasts, films, books, or innovative marketing campaigns. The sequence of our storytelling might be uncertain, but our resolve to reshape perceptions remains steadfast.
Kaupapa | Purpose
Our desire is to reach gender equity by breaking the stigma associated with motherhood and caregiving while honouring Indigenous wisdom.
We aspire for any individual, regardless of gender, to truly blossom while tending to children, knowing that expanding their skill set will transform them into more valuable individuals–personally and professionally. We also wish for employers to retain and value a skilful workforce.
kōpū is an educational nook and creative outlet to springboard a broader social movement grounded in and inspired by Te Ao Māori wisdom. Our quest is for advocacy and radical thinking to upend the hidebound dogma of the workplace that has led to so much inequality and suffering in the name of maximising profit.
Our ethics revolve around Māori influences - an intentional representation of minorities and their mightiness and reminder of Māori whakaaro (ways of thinking) that have already shaped policy and societal change worldwide. We wish to honour native communities whose histories have been overlooked. An underlying ambition shared by all team members who have roots in persecuted communities.
As a New Zealand company honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi principle of equity, we commit to gifting access to our content free of charge to tangata whenua (native people), hapū and iwi (sub-tribes and tribes) who have contributed to the richness of this story. This is inherently attached to the principle of Tōna tūturutanga - restoring Māoridom.
As a social enterprise, it is also core to our values and social impact model.
Our duty in following Te Tiriti o Waitangi is to reach and honour marginalised Indigenous communities - Tōna tūturutanga (restoring Te Ao Māori). Māori and Pasifika have been particularly stricken by wider disparities through their caregiving roles – roles that were traditionally treasured pre-colonisation.
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“Where politics tear apart, artists mend. Instead of building walls, we artists create bridges. Building a bridge, even just a walkway, isn't a dream as if dreamt together. It becomes a reality.”
— Golshiftech Farahani
