Hinewehi mohi’s father came from an era where if caught talking Maori they would be smacked, and so this led to many not knowing their language. His parents as well thought that it would be better for him to learn english as the rest of the world. At age 36 her father decided to do something about the language and so he taught himself and then taught his daughter, Hinewehi was also keen on learning more about the language and so she did.
Learning the language came to a point where it became important to learn Maori at school. Hinewhehi mohi went to St Joseph's Māori Girls' School in Napier and went onto the University of Waikato where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Māori in 1985.
Her first album being Oceania, it was released in 1999. While promoting her first album in London, she was asked to sing the New Zealand national anthem at a rugby game in Twickenham.
Although singing the New Zealand anthem in Maori had been done multiple times, it had never been done at the nationals and so when Hinewehi sang it in Te Reo everyone was shocked. Singing it in this version was very controversial; she decided to go forward with singing it in Maori.
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