My koko Ueroa Hohepa Ngarewa, known as Koko Charlie, was a native speaker born in 1901. He was the first born since muru raupatu, the son to that young 16-year-old who survived political imprisonment in Dunedin. He lost his wife—my nan, Parewaho Tamaka—when Dad was 16 and his youngest child was three months. So as a single dad Koko brought us up. Koko's whole life was us, his mokopuna. Living with us and loving Pariroa Pā, he made sure my siblings, cousins, and I knew our tūrangawaewae, and spoiled us with love and shared only positive stories of his past, so we never felt the stigmatisation he grew up with or the pain of the heaviness our tūpuna carried. As much as possible he wanted us to feel equal. He wanted us to live the best of both worlds, which was vastly different to his childhood.