The 2025 theme for Cook Islands Māori Language Week is 'Ātui'tui’ia au ki te raurau a tōku matakeinanga – “Connect me to the offerings of my people'. In celebration of Māori Kūki 'Airani we profile writer, editor and politician, Nihi Vini and his 1977-1978 literary contribution to the Tāmaki Makaurau newspaper, Mana. Written in eight languages, the newspaper was a meeting place for many communities engaged in social justice and Māori and Pacific story sovereignty.
Dive into the archives with us by visiting the Mana: Protest in Print exhibition, currently open from Dec 2024 – Oct 2026.
Nihi Vini, te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani editor for Mana.
Nihi Vini worked alongside many of the other Mana editors at the Pacific Islanders’ Educational Resource Centre (PIERC). He was born in Tongareva Penrhyn, and studied in Western Samoa, Fiji, and Aotearoa.
Nihi was a writer and a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. He authored several books on Cook Islands politics and the local history of Tongareva Penrhyn. Politics, both in the Cook Islands and in Aotearoa, was a frequent topic in Nihi’s columns. He wrote about complex topics in a way people could understand, so they could form their own opinions. In 1989 Nihi was elected to the Cook Islands Parliament as the representative for Tongareva Penrhyn.
Illustration by India Taberner, based on a photograph courtesy of Stuff Ltd / Auckland Star
‘Ē riro ana tā Vini au tātā’anga, ‘i te ‘ōpara ‘ē te ‘akamāro’iro’i atu ’i te tangata kia ’akamanako meitaki ’i te ‘ō’onu’anga ‘ō te au manamanatā.
Ko tāna tu’anga ’i roto ’i te Mana – ’ē ‘akamāro’iro’i ana tē reira ’i te tangata kia ’akamanako meitaki ’i te au mea tano tikāi ’i mua ake kā rave ei rātou ’i tā rātou tika ’openga. ’E ’akatika katoa ana ’aia ’i tēta’i ’ua atu kia ’akamou ’i tā rātou ’i manako.
’I roto i teia ’atikara, kua ’apai mai ’aia ’i tēta’i tuatua ā te ’Akavā Speight, tei riro ’ei ‘akatupu ‘i te au tāpepe’anga taukore.
Kāre ’aia e tautā ana ’i te tuku ’i tōna ’ua’orāi manako nā roto ’i tāna au tātā’anga, ’inārā ka ’akamāro’iro’i ’aia ’i tēta’i ’ua atu kia ’akatinamou ’i tō rātou.
Nihi used his section of Mana to encourage people to turn their minds to issues and think for themselves. In this column he talks through a problematic speech by High Court judge Justice Graham Speight.
Read more of Nihi Vini's articles
You can read every issue of the Mana newspaper online via Papers Past. Below are links to some pages that feature Nihi's articles.
1 September 1977, click here to read.
13 October 1977, click here to read.
More of Nihi Vini's writing can be read in theThe Journal of the Polynesian Society. This article from 1976 discusses Tongareva Death and Mourning Rituals.
Nihi Vini's writing also featured in the 1 Dec, 1972 and April 1, 1973 issues of the Pacific Island Monthly.