Scholar-musician wins two prestigious University Blues Awards

Ngaati Tiipaa and Ngaati Kaiaua scholar-artivist and auteur Em-Haley Kukutai Walker, also known as Theia, is merging bilingual protest music, Indigenous scholarship and Māori advocacy to challenge colonial narratives, celebrate wāhine Māori and carry Indigenous voices to the global stage.

The Waikato Taniwha Rau artist and Master of Indigenous Studies student took out two categories at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland’s Blues Awards last month: Arts and Culture, and the Major Māori Award.

The recognition reflects the connections between her music, academic research and advocacy, all grounded in a commitment to Māori knowledge and Indigenous futures.

“They’re all connected by a shared commitment to Māori knowledge, Indigenous resistance and the restoration of matriarchal perspectives,” she says.

Receiving both awards was “extremely humbling and very affirming”, particularly because the recognition came within a university setting where it can be difficult to challenge colonial narratives.  

Her debut album, GIRL, IN A SAVAGE WORLD, brings together her scholarship and artistic practice through alternative bilingual protest music, te reo Māori and contemporary composition.

“The idea was that it’s effectively a collection of compositions that really combine my scholarship and my art,” she says.

Drawing inspiration from traditional Māori forms of songwriting, she also experiments with classical instrumentation to challenge the historical associations between music, colonial power and cultural dominance.

She considered how classical instruments had formed part of the soundtrack of colonisation, from marching drums to piano and violin.

“I thought to myself, how powerful would it be for me to be able to almost weaponise them in fearlessly anti-colonial songs but also create a very ethereal sound?” she says.

“This approach creates space to reclaim those sounds whilst delivering waiata with staunch messages of survivance which resonate with both my Māori kin and Indigenous audiences.”

Her work is also inspired by the wāhine who came before her, particularly her great-grandmother Mite Karaka Kukutai and grandmother Rangirara Kukutai.

“Everything that I do is intended to follow in the footsteps of my tuupuna waahine, whose defiance in the face of colonisation and dispossesion continues to guide me.”

Theia describes her nannies as a source of inspiration for being unapologetically Māori and advocating for her people. She is particularly passionate about restoring matriarchal knowledge and affirming the intrinsic spiritual power and authority of wāhine Māori.

Scholarship grounded in Indigenous knowledge

Em-Haley's academic interests centre on Indigenous research methodologies like Kaupapa Māori and Mana Wāhine, as well as lived experience and the restoration of Māori knowledge, particularly the role of matriarchal knowledge in guiding future generations.

She says her academic and creative work are closely connected, providing different channels to advocate for Indigenous peoples.

“My work at university and my work in music, really cross over and effectively say the same thing,” she says. “It’s just that one is very academic and requires many references, and the other is on the stage.”

“It’s a powerful way, actually, to revisit knowledge that has been marginalised through colonisation.

“Given the political regime we’re currently suffering under, which is the result of misogynistic, patriarchal Victorian attitudes; my Masters research and art is a manifestation of returning to our matriarchal knowledge,” she says.

She sees this knowledge as a source of healing for Māori communities and an important guide for rangatahi and future generations.

In November, she will present her research at Indiana University’s Global Indigenous Studies Conference, bringing her academic work to an international forum for Indigenous scholarship.  

Connecting Indigenous people across the globe

Em-Haley's music has connected her with Indigenous communities internationally, including through a recent North American tour and her participation in headlining the Great Northern Arts Festival in the Inuvialuit community of Inuuvik, in the Arctic Circle.

She facilitated a workshop exploring bilingual songwriting as a tool for Indigenous resistance and resilience, sharing how te reo Māori can communicate concepts, metaphors and cultural knowledge with depth and meaning.

“The strength that comes with being able to go to other Indigenous communities and share our stories, our shared anger and our continued survival is so amazing,” she says.

“I believe writing in one’s own native language can express complex ideas in ways that may be difficult to convey in English; and I want young Indigenous people to feel confident creating work in their own reo.”

She's also an Ambassador for Oceania in the Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle (IYSC) which shares stories of resistance and cultural and linguistic revitalisation.

"The IYSC is an official project of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages. As Ambassador for Oceania, I advocate for my peers to publish stories from within Polynesia for the benefit of our kin throughout the world!"

In April 2026, Em-Haley travelled to the United Nations Headquarters in New York as a Grantee of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples, representing her iwi at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), where she delivered two interventions before global government and tribal leaders.

Reflecting on the freedom she has to speak through her art, she says: “It’s our responsibility to be fearless in our art, because there are so many peoples around the world that don’t have that choice.”

“I’m constantly reflecting on the fact that my grandmother, just three generations ago, was beaten till she bled in Native State Schools for speaking the only language that she knew.”

“That whakapapa reinforces the importance of continuing to create work that is bold, unapologetically Maaori and grounded in Indigenous knowledge.”

Recognition across music and Māori leadership

The Blues Awards add to a growing body of recognition for Em-Haley/Theia’s work across music, advocacy and Indigenous representation.

Her achievements include recognition through the Waiata Māori Music Awards where she won Best Māori Songwriter for 2026; while her debut album has also received the highly sought “For Your Consideration” in the Grammy Awards ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ category for 2027.

In October, she contributed to the Māori Women’s Welfare League’s 75th anniversary national conference, where she was invited to deliver the Taitamahine (young wāhine leader) Keynote Address before prominent Māori leaders and academics, including Professor Tracey McIntosh.

“It is such an incredible honour, which I do not take lightly. To be in a space of waahine Maaori leadership, to be taught by waahine Maaori leadership and some of our pioneers who have paved the way for Māori to thrive is really what this is about.”

Through music, scholarship and advocacy, Theia hopes to carry Indigenous knowledge into new spaces, while creating opportunities for future generations of Māori and Indigenous voices.

“Everything I do comes back to my tuupuna, my whaanau and my people. I want our knowledge, our stories and our voices to be heard on our own terms.”