Fern Whitau she/her/ia

Ko Moeraki te kāika. Ko Uenuku te whare. Ko Fern Whitau ahau.

My mountain is Aoraki, my river is the Waitaki, my tribe is       Kāi Tahu. Moeraki is where my heart is, my ancestral whare is Uenuku. My name is Fern Whitau.

I absolutely appreciate how very privileged I am to share the most intimate moments, the love, the joy, the sadness and the grief with the people who come to me.

It is a bonus when I am given the opportunity to share my passion for   te reo Māori. The Māori language is a valuable part of who we are as New Zealanders, it is a part of our identity and I believe that hearing    te reo Māori spoken adds to the uniqueness of your ceremony.

 It is appropriate and respectful to have  Māori names and concepts  pronounced correctly on such important occasions. As an intermediate speaker (B.A.Hons Te Reo Māori UC, MAOR612 CPIT, Diploma              Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi Level 7 TWOA) I can do that for you.

I also embrace our other beautiful official language, NZSL – New Zealand Sign Language. It was a great privilege and fun to be a part of a tri-lingual ceremony (My couple coached me with the signs). Te Reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language and English. Does it get any better?!

I am dedicated to the safety, visibility and inclusion of the rainbow community. So it is very cool that my ancestral whare is Uenuku which also means Rainbow.

I enjoy languages, learning about other cultures and greeting people from the four winds. I look forward to meeting you and working together to shape your ceremony.

Nō reira, kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana, kia tere ai te kārohirohi i mua tonu i ō koutou huarahi.

In closing, may the calm be widespread, may the ocean glisten as greenstone, may the shimmer of light ever dance across your pathways.