Background
Maniapoto was born in Invercargill, New Zealand and attended Street Joseph"s Māori Girls" College in Napier.
Maniapoto was born in Invercargill, New Zealand and attended Street Joseph"s Māori Girls" College in Napier.
Widely considered as one of New Zealand"s most successful indigenous acts, her music is described as a fusion of traditional Māori haka, chants and taonga puoro, with contemporary soul, reggae and classical styles. She is said to have paid her way through law school by singing covers in the highly competitive Auckland club circuit. In 1987, Moana released "Kua Makona", as part of an effort to show New Zealand youth the consequences of alcohol abuse.
The song featured in the RIANZ Top 50 singles chart.
In 2002, Moana formed Moana and the Tribe which consisted of a large group of musical performers who promote Maori culture. Since their formation, the band has performed worldwide at over 120 international concerts, cementing their reputation as one of the most successful indigenous bands to emerge from New Zealand.
Prior to 2002, Moana’s former band, Moana & the Moahunters released two albums, Tahi and Rua. Their feminist anthem Black Pearl reached northern
2 on the national charts in 1991, earning Moana her first gold.
Moana has developed a high international profile, being described as ‘brilliant’ by The Beat (United States of America, 2004), ‘New Zealand"s most exciting music export’ (Marie Claire, 2002), ‘music of great depth and beauty’ (New Zealand Herald, 2003) and gaining rave reviews from one Germany"s more critical columnists in its largest daily newspaper (Süddeutsche Zeitung 2002, 2004),
In 2006, Moana and the Tribe completed a 25 gig tour of Europe and had the distinction of being the first New Zealand band known to have performed in the former Soviet Union - playing at a private party hosted in Moscow"s First Club, then at Le Club. Moana released her fourth album Wha in May 2008. She toured in 2008 and 2009 Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Turkey, New Zealand and performed at the opening of the Biennale in Venice / Italy in June 2009.
Their documentary work includes Guarding the Family Silver, which screened in the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival and The Russians are Coming, which played at the Sydney Opera House during the Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival in 2012.