Melinda Webber (Ngati Kahu, Ngati Hau, Ngati Hine, Ngapuhi, Ngati Whakaue) is a professor and Te Tumu/Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Waipapa Taumata Rau/the University of Auckland. She is a former Fulbright/Nga Pae o te Maramatanga scholar. In 2016, she was awarded a Marsden Fast-Start grant to undertake a research project examining the distinctive identity traits of Te Tai Tokerau tupuna (leading to this book), and in 2017 she was awarded a prestigious Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to tackle an important question facing educators - 'How can we foster cultural pride and academic aspiration among Maori students?'. Melinda Webber was the 2017 Director for Phase Three of The Starpath Project and is currently the University of Auckland co-director for the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity programme. She also spent six years as a co-principal investigator on the Nga Pae o te Maramatanga-funded project 'Ka Awatea' which examined the nature of teaching, learning, and home socialisation patterns that support Maori student success in education. Melinda's research focuses on better understanding the effects of Maori student motivation and academic engagement, culturally sustaining teaching, localised curricula, and enduring school-family-community partnerships for learning. Te Kapua O'Connor (Ngati Kuri, Pohutiare) is a doctoral student at Te Wananga o Waipapa: School of Maori Studies and Pacific Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau/the University of Auckland. Between 2017 and 2020 Te Kapua worked as a researcher on the Marsden Fast-Start-funded project led by Professor Melinda Webber. The project examined the distinctive identity traits of Te Tai Tokerau tupuna and led to this book. In 2020, Te Kapua secured a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship to commence his PhD. He was also awarded the 2021 Ta Hemi Henare Scholarship from the Kohanga Reo National Trust Board to further support him in his doctoral studies. Te Kapua is studying the tikanga of ahika, striving to broaden, add nuance, and challenge some of what we know about the celebrated tikanga. Quinton Hita (Ngapuhi, Ngati Ueoneone, Ngati Tautahi) was the owner and CEO of Kura Productions from 2004 to 2021 (Mt Zion, Ahikaroa, Maui's Hook, Kowhao Rau, Pukoro). His broadcasting career has included stints as DJ, writer, actor, and producer. His abilities in te reo first took Hita to radio, then a gig co-presenting the television series Mai Time. He went on to act in Crooked Earth and Shortland Street, where he also worked as a writer and Maori script editor. He now sits on a number of language, education, whanau, and broadcasting boards. A long-time stalwart of the Ngapuhi dialect, Quinton is also behind the whanau-focused language resources, Maori Minute.