A New Zealand journalist has become the first person to lead a prime time news broadcast with a facial tattoo. Oriini Kaipara’s bottom chin is tattooed with a design of a traditional Mori woman. The 37-year-old said that being able to read the news at 6 pm has fulfilled a lifelong ambition for her and she hopes to inspire other Maori women to do the same.
She remarked in an interview with a leading daily, ‘It’s really exciting. I’m really enjoying it. I’m not speechless, but it’s a buzz. I am proud of how far I’ve come in being able to anchor 6 pm right now. It’s definitely a step forward, and a step-up. If there was a goal for me, it would be anchoring prime time news, and that’s happened’.
Kaipara made waves in 2019 when she stood in for TVNZ’s noon newscast, making her the first person with facial tattoos to do so. She often creates packages for the main bulletin and her Maori markings have made her a fan favourite. Kaipara is a proud descendant of the Thoe, Ngti Awa, Twharetoa, and Ngti Rangitihi tribes, which she proudly displays in her work as a well-known journalist.
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T moko, also known as Mori face and body tattoos, represents the wearer’s heritage and social status. For Mori women, Moko was a rite of passage that marked the shift from infancy to maturity and symbolised personal growth. She shared photos on social media in January 2019 of herself surrounded by family while a tattoo artist inscribes her moko kauae.
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