Jaqualyn Taimana Williams
Nau mai, haere mai and welcome to the creative works of Jaqualyn Taimana Williams (aka Jaqi), songwriter, musician, comedy performer, multiracial Kiwi mother of four and early childhood teacher.
Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Pūtuaki te maunga, ko Rangitaiki te awa, ko Kiwa te moana, ko Ngati Porou, Ngati Ranginui raua ko Ngati Apakura ngā iwi, ko Hinetamatea te marae, no Aotearoa ahau, ko Jaqi Taimana tōku ingoa. Ngā mihi nui.
“My birth parents are Chinese/Māori and French/Scottish/Māori in heritage but I didn’t always know that. I grew up believing I was Greek. My songs are all part of the story of the discovery of my identity which was withheld from me at birth by the Government adoption system of the late 1960s. It’s a personal journey and I know I’m but one of many displaced babies of that era. My DNA is predominantly Celtic/Māori and Scandinavian and I was raised by English and Australian adoptive parents. It’s a huge part of who I am as an artist – the sense of myself as being so culturally diverse as an individual in both nature and nurture that I’m free of the constraints of stereotyping.”
Over thirty years of live performance including TV, radio and a tour of Germany in 1998 has given Jaqi a very strong base on which to build as an artist. Her music career began in 1987 at the Christchurch Arts Centre with a band of University students. “We were called The Statics, I love that when we broke up we became ex-Statics.”
Qualifying as a Primary School teacher in 1999 and an Early Childhood teacher in 2014 has given Jaqi a deeper connection with the Māori heritage she missed out on growing up. Combining her knowledge and skills in two careers – education and music – has resulted in the creation of a didactic collection of bilingual children’s songs, Waiata Tamariki. Years of playing rock songs and writing songs in a variety of styles has resulted in the 16 track monster album Statues Of Liberty which shows off the depth and range of her highly accessible, authentic and engaging songwriting style.
The full interesting range of original rock/pop songs, comedy songs, songs written in te reo Māori and songs for children is now available right here, with more planned. Exclusive Taimana Publishing locally-sourced T-Shirt designs and Taimana Slime are available in the Shop. Thanks for visiting!
