Photo: Supplied
From a town of less than 4000 people, Siadin Ellis (NgΔti TΕ«wharetoa, NgΔti Kahungunu, NgΔi TΕ«hoe) is carving out space for rangatahi MΔori in places they are still rarely seen.
At just 23, Ellis has walked the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week twice while also graduating with a Bachelor of Laws and being admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court.
Now the youngest lawyer at TΔmaki Legal, she works in Treaty law and hopes her journey shows other rangatahi MΔori- particularly those from small towns - that they belong in both academic and creative spaces.
"We as MΔori are so much more than the stereotypes and the statistics portray us as," she told RNZ.
"We deserve as much as anyone else to be present in these spaces, whether it be aca
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