Homelessness told through the eyes of a wāhine Māori

RNZ News

21-05-2025

Teiti Nepia says her five-months outdoors was a form of art activism, peacefully resisting the 'high cost of living and unsustainable market rents'.
Photo:
Supplied
A last resort turned into a social experiment then an art project, and is now a short documentary called HOME - where a well-travelled wāhine Māori proves that home is what you make of it.
Teiti Nepia has lived many lives as a chef - including directly under Uluru in Outback Australia or in Brooklyn, Wellington - but she still struggled to find a forever home.
Her entire immediate whānau moved across the ditch and Nepia tagged along, but after her mother's passing and 10 years in Ahitereiria, she felt the need to leave.
When the wāhine born in the late 60s returned to where she first moved to in the 90s - Island Bay - she lived with a friend until she found a long-term place to stay.
"After a few months of trying to look, I just couldn't find something I could afford," Nepia said.
She had attended interviews for flats and house sharing, but the people who had advertised rooms were 30-years younger than Nepia.
"Although I'd make a pretty cool flat auntie, I don't think they want to live with their auntie, it wasn't really appropriate."
Teiti Nepia on the beach.
Photo:
Supplied / Facebook
Viable flatting options were slim, so she looked into one-bedroom studio spaces, but the weekly rent prices were too high.
"Even though I could have afforded $400 a week, it would have taken out at least 60 plus percent of my hard-earned wage, my income, and it didn't sit right with me."
For the summer of 23/24, Nepia took her trailer-hitched e-bike to various locations between Princess Bay and Ōwhiro Bay in Pōneke and set up camp while documenting her journey with a young camera crew.
From public spaces to beaches to people's gardens, Nepia would hunker down in each spot for a night or three beneath the stars.
Reading the cosmos was something she had learnt while living in the Outback in her swag. And since her Mum passed away, she finds solace in looking at the stars.
Although she was already 'good at camping,' her five-months outdoors was a form of art activism, peacefully resisting the 'high cost of living and unsustainable market rents.'
Although Nepia is well-travelled and a 'good camper,' she still made sure she was allowed to stay on public and private grounds before doing so.
Photo:
supplied / Teiti Nepia
According to the 2023 Census, an estimated 112,496 people - or 2.3 percent of the census - usually resident population were homeless/severe housing deprivation.
Census data revealed there were more homeless women than men, with more than 57,000 women without a home.
Meanwhile, a study by Ihi Research has also found that four out of five homeless women in Aotearoa were Māori, with some being as young as 15-years-old.
"You can see with your own eyes, the situation."
But Nepia's short documentary called HOME puts a different spin on homelessness. Instead, she shows people how to respect the land while being homeless, and how to do it without leaving a trace.
Nepia said homelessness is not just about those sleeping on the streets in the CBD, but it is those who are freedom camping and the people living in their cars.
"What happened to me was that I had this sort of 'activism' ignited in me, because I was so upset with the state of my country and more particularly, the state of my generation.
"My generation was a generation where our parents were Māori, our parents were urbanised, and so my parents were encouraged to move away from where they had come from."
Nepia's mum was from Ruatoria and her Dad was from Nūhaka. Both were native te reo Māori speakers, but when Nepia's parents moved away from the east coast, the language and connection to the whenua were lost, she said.
The bike Nepia travels on
Photo:
supplied / Teiti Nepia
Nepia is already planning her next documentary, and without spoiling it, she aims to follow the same kaupapa of camping freely outdoors, understanding other people's view on market rents and the cost of living while reconnecting with her parents' whenua - but she wants others to join her.
"The premise is to come around aunty and help take Aunty T home."
Since November, Nepia has been living in a social housing precinct developed by Kāinga Ora called Te Ō.
"I feel so lucky to have got a forever home."
HOME by Teiti Nepia will have its world premiere at the
Doc Edge film festival
, which begins next month.
The film is automatically eligible for the Best New Zealand Short category. The winner of this category will receive an Oscar consideration for 2026.
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