Mission to help voices be heard
TRUST life. What a brave and audacious thing to do.
This is Whaia Sonic Weaver, a proud Maori warrior woman with an energy of pure grace and connection.
The melody of her whale tooth flute echoed along Rainbow Beach, and it was beautiful.
“Music is special to me. There’s healing in singing. It’s my truth. My voice. Me being heard.
“I teach women to use their voice through Maori cultural practices.
“I’ve also been gifted with traditional, first nation instruments, living sounds from our natural world, made of bone, stone, clay or wood.
“They are living, breathing entities to my people. I weave in our traditional language to create a safe space, a healing space for those who need it.
“I was born in NZ but raised in the Pilbara Outback region of WA.
“I grew up hunting kangaroo and experienced true
Aboriginal bush life.
“It wasn’t until my mid-twenties though that I really started questioning more deeply.
“I had birthed two beautiful sons and spent five wonderful years travelling the world surfing circuit with my then partner Rabbit Bartholomew.
“There came a time though when I needed to travel inward, a path of personal reclamation and music helped me.
“I just wanted to find my own dreams, who I was and how to find my way home really.
“My hopes? I have a duty to uplift our community so I’m on the hunt for a 40ft bus!
“I want to build a studio in it, go to the people in the Outback and sing. Meet elders. Record them. Podcast. Celebrate one another.
“It’s important to me that my daughter, Moana, sees our culture living and breathing.
“After Covid it’s like we’re all starting again. Life is so precious.”
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