Tāme Iti, Patu!, Muru, and Herbs

Tāme Iti is a Māori activist and artist from Aoterea New Zealand.

I first noticed him in the documentary Patu! by the film maker Merata Mita.

The documentary charts the anti-Apartheid protests that took place across Aoterea New Zealand in the winter of 1981, before and during a South African rugby tour.

You can see more information about the documentary here: https://www.nzonscreen.com/videos/patu-1983

In Patu! Tāme appears as a young man without moko.

Many years later, in 2015, he spoke about his life, activism and the power of knowing who you are in this TEDxAuckland Talk:

There is also a documentary from 2015 about his life and his involvement in the 2007 New Zealand police raids, The Price of Peace.

The 2007 police raids were also dramatised in a 2022 film Muru directed by Tearepa Kahi and starring Tāme Iti as himself, and Cliff Curtis among a fine cast:

You can read more about Tāme in his book Mana:

Tāme has a website and is on Facebook and Instagram.

The Patu! documentary also features great reggae music by Herbs.

"It's one thing to hold a placard, chant and march against a dragon. It's another to pick up a red guitar and slay the dragon with reggae, and that's Herbs"– Producer Reikura Kahi on Herbs and the power of their music, The NZ Herald, 17 June 2019

There is also a fantastic Herbs documentary, Songs of Freedom:

The film Muru, ends with a beautiful song, Matemateāone, sung in te reo Māori and English by Stan Walker (who starred in Tearepa Kahi's film Mt. Zion):

And finally there is a NZ film, Uproar, that is set around the anti-Apartheid protests of 1981:

*Header photo of Tāme Iti - Source: waateanews.com