Nuku Women #Nuku100 //006 Michele Wilson

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Michele Wilson (Tainui, Ngati Pāoa) grew up identifying as an ‘urban’ Māori, and although she didn’t learn te reo me ōna tikanga as a child, she always felt an incredible connection to her tūpuna and te ao Māori. After working (unhappily) as a corporate lawyer and then suffering with postnatal depression after the birth of her second child, she was led into the ngahere to begin her healing and, her journey to reconnect with her culture. Now, the owner of Frankie Apothecary, a rongoa-based skincare company, is helping other women and their families heal through natural remedies.

Michele is also the CEO and creator of AWWA, New Zealand’s first period-proof underwear brand.

In this episode we talk about growing up outside of your culture and, reclaiming our Indigenous practices and systems. We have a great conversation about ikura (menstruation),  going right back to Hine-nui-te-pō and the first period.

We discuss the way our tūpuna would celebrate ikura and, how colonisation has changed those practices. We also discuss Michele’s determination to end period poverty in Aotearoa.

"When we menstruate, that is our direct link to our whakapapa and, to the whenua."