Tracing the twists and turns of our family tree very often involves dusty vaults, dead ends and false leads. But we all carry a key that can unlock a history long lost to us. It's our DNA. 12 New Zealanders have had their DNA tested, and that's going to help them solve old family mysteries, uncover ancient forbearers and even find a fortune or two. Stay tuned for a fascinating ride. Copyright Able 2017 Now, learning about our DNA shows us that our differences pale by comparison to how much we share. So many of our ancestors were brave enough to set off for a new land. Singer Stan Walker and politician Jacinda Ardern are about to discover they have relatives all over the globe, people who boarded boats and planes to see what the other side of the world looked like. This is mean. These statues, I've seen them my whole life. Now I get to see them in real life, it's quite surreal, actually. Hello! the only one that ended up in New Zealand. The rest of his family came here. Political bright spark Jacinda Ardern is keen to discover more about the people who have populated her past. Now, while she knows a great deal about her Scottish and Irish ancestors, I can also tell you that she has relatives who speak French and a number who saw the end of slavery in America. But let's first find out how Jacinda sees her family. DNA ARDERN: I definitely would describe myself as a really family-orientated person. My family's really, really important to me, but unfortunately in the last few years, we've been all in different corners of the world. My parents are living in the Pacific Islands; my sister lives in the UK. But, of all of us, I think probably I'm most` I'm the most family-obsessed one of all of us. So, yeah, it's really` family is really important to me. There's a little bit of mystery on my father's side of the family. Never been entirely clear who my biological grandfather is. My sister was doing her science homework one day and asked my father for his blood type and then for my grandfather's, and with that simple wee piece of information realised that it was quite impossible. Jacinda, welcome. Thank you, Richard. Sit yourself down. Thank you. Make yourself at home. Now, how did you get into politics? Well, sort of by accident, sort of by design. I've just always wanted, I guess, to change the world, as cliched as that sounds. Did you? Yeah, and I certainly didn't start out believing that I would be a politician. I just wanted to help, wanted to change things, and it eventually led down that path. STAMMERS: And in this world that you've entered, is there any particular highlights? Well, I've never actually won, so... (LAUGHS) I guess I'm waiting for a career highlight, as it were. Are you? But I'm an eternal optimist. Well, Jacinda, there seems to be some sort of mystery regarding your father's ancestry. What do you know about that? Um, not a lot, to be honest. We really don't know much about my father's` one side of my father's family at all, so it would be good to answer some questions. I think we may be able to shed some light on that but not give you too much too soon. Right. We've got some of your results, and if we'd look at the screen over there, - we'll be able to see them. - (CLICK!) So, we've got 54% British and Irish. Mm-hm. 29% North-western European, and that tallies with your family tree, of course. But there's a couple of interesting numbers ` 10% French-German, 3.7% Scandinavian. You also have a small percentage of Eastern European DNA. Does that come as a bit of a surprise? Yeah, it does. So, where do you think you might be headed? If I were to put money on it, I would say Scotland or Ireland. That's always been where most of my ancestors are from, so that seems the most obvious place for me. Ahh, yes. Well, yes, there might be a couple of surprises here for you. I am not going to say any more. I'm going to give you this device with which you're going to keep in touch with me, and me with you. Thank you. And I wish you bon voyage. Thank you very much, Richard. And a happy journey and lots of discoveries. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Well, Jacinda better pack a sun hat, because she's about to discover that her father's ancestors rather liked the coast around the Mediterranean. Well, who doesn't? (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Hello, Richard. Hello, Jacinda. Your first mission involves you looking into your father's side of the family. Now, we've found relatives linked to him, so make your way to Athens... Athens!? ...to meet your cousin, Lana, to learn more. I don't think there's any Greek blood in my family that I know of. Why am I so pale!? (LAUGHS) (ROMANTIC GREEK MUSIC) I've always considered myself to be grade-A pasty. My father, he's a completely different shade to the rest of us, and, so, yeah, we've always had questions around where that might have come from. That says, yeah, that's probably a little bit of southern European, Italian, Greek, So, um, apparently I'm meant to be meeting Lana here somewhere. I'm told that she is my fourth cousin. I thought all of my cousins lived in Hamilton and the Hawkes Bay, so this feels pretty exotic right now. (LAUGHS) Hello! Ahhh! You must be Lana! Yes! Jacinda, nice to meet you! It's so nice to meet you. GASPS: Oh my God! (LAUGHS) I know! You have my teeth! (LAUGHS) That's what I've been waiting for. I didn't expect you to look like me. This is a little amazing. It's really nice to meet you. Oh my goodness. It's so lovely to meet you too. We've been so excited. Yeah, it's really, really exciting to meet you. Yes, yes, yes. Why couldn't I get the teeth and the olive skin? (BOTH LAUGH) So, I think we might be related on my father's side, but I know very little about his heritage. Maybe you can help me fill in a little gap. Well, I think we're also related through my father's side, through his mother. Her name is Dorothy West, and she's supposed to have had Irish, Scottish, possibly Welsh heritage. So I'm hoping to be able to now find more about her father. They have some records of them in Mafikeng in South Africa, but I haven't been able to trace yet where they are from in the UK. So at some point they've migrated from the UK over to South Africa, and that's probably where our family tie is. Yes, yes, yes. We will figure something out, yes. So, the back story is my parents divorced in 1979, and sadly our families didn't stay in contact, so I had very little contact with either my father or any members of his family. So I'm very excited to hear what you have. I don't have many photos on my father's side because I just don't know much about, um, his father. This is my father and his twin brother. There were two sets of twins in my father's family, and we always get a little bit confused as to which one is which, but I'm pretty sure that... I'm pretty sure that this one is my dad. Ohh! He's the little one. (LAUGHS) (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Excuse me. That will be a confusing message from Richard. Hello, Richard. Well, well done, you two. Your reasoning's exceptionally sound, because you connect through your father's British ancestry. Oh! But there's a reason that you're in Greece, Jacinda ` because your DNA has 2% southern European markers, and a further test on your father has revealed that his southern European DNA is actually 5% Greek-Italian and 1% Portuguese. Oh my goodness. Seems to me like someone had a bike and got around in it. LAUGHS: That's amazing. That's amazing. I think my dad will probably be pretty interested to know that as well. I think meeting Lana made me realise that actually the origin of you connection doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter whether or not you're third cousins twice removed and what percentage blood you might be Italian or Greek. It's just that you're meeting these amazing, wonderfully warm people, so I really enjoyed that first meeting. BOTH: Cheers! (CLINK!) Coming up ` Jacinda Ardern's Greek odyssey brings her face-to-face with a ghost from the past. And Stan Walker sets off on his own DNA adventure. Am, I, like, Mexican? (CHUCKLES) I must be Mexican. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) (HAMMER THUDS) (SAW WHIZZES) (CHUCKLES) All right. You ready? (GASPS) (GENTLE MUSIC SWELLS) So that's how he's getting in. Stan Walker has always had the X-factor, but now we want to look into his X and Y factor. Whether he's singing or acting, Stan is a man of the people, but now he's going on his own hunt for the Walker people, so let's see what he knows so far. I was brought up on the marae my whole life. We were brought up with our first, second, third cousins like brothers and sisters. There's a couple of thousand of us, and we're quite tight, and even though some of them are so annoying, they're number one for me. (LAUGHS) I've got a few of my nannies and koros that are still alive, and I only go back home to see them first. Sometimes I don't even see my cousins, my aunties and uncles and everybody else. I'd rather see them because we've got so little time with them; they're in their 90s. My favourite thing is to sit down and hear their stories, and me being who I am today and achieving what I have achieved, I feel like I'm a reward for all the hard work, sacrifices that the generations before me made. I'm that annoying person that loves to talk about my family and where I come from, so when I find out that I'm Brazilian, oh, you watch out. Stan, come along in. Welcome, welcome. Three times welcome. Thank you very much. (CHUCKLES) Sit yourself down. Now, you're a singer, basically ` well, it was a singer that brought you to the attention of the public and started your career, but it takes you` you're very much a family man, aren't you? Yeah. And it takes you away from your family,. How do you deal with that? My mum is, um... she rings me up every day, so I feel like she's there. (LAUGHS) She's always there. You're rather interested in maybe an Indian connection in your family. Is that true? Yes, because my grandmother's part Indian, and I met my grandmother when I was 9, and I think when I was about 15 or 16, I found out that she was Indian. All she knows that, you know, her great grandfather came from there, and that was it. OK. Well, we might have a bit of information on that for you at a later date; not just yet. We've got some of your markers in here. If you look at the screen, we'll take a look at them. Right. So the map so far is showing that you have 34.7% Southeast Asian DNA, but you also have 4% South Asian DNA which reflects your grandmother's Indian heritage. There's 36% European markers, and you have a very small percentage of Native American in there somewhere. 24% Oceania markers, and the labs have found 455 second and third cousins. No way. And you're about to meet a few of those. Now, I want you to take this device with you, if you wouldn't mind. Thanks. And I shall be in touch later on. Thank you so much for coming in, Stan. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Bon voyage. Have a good trip. Thank you. Well, we know Stan has what it takes to me an X-factor idol, but where he's going, he's going to meet some real idols. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Stan's landed in California to meet a connection that's a lot closer to home than he might have imagined. I didn't think I had any family or knew anybody or, you know, was related to anybody in America, so this is going to be really weird. Oh my gosh. (LAUGHS) Kia ora! BOTH: Kia ora. Stan? Yes. Welcome. Nice to meet you. Kia ora. I'm Xena. Kia ora. I think we're relatives. Oh my gosh. This is so... (LAUGHTER) And we have a surprise for you. Oh really? Yes. Come with us. Kia ora. Kia ora. My name's Stan. Stan, my name's June. Nice to meet you. Same here. Oh my gosh. This is really, um, amazing. (LAUGHS) Far out. And I guess I heard we were related somehow. Yes, somehow. My father was Kaihu Renata. The Renatas? Renata, yeah. Oh my gosh. There's heaps from back home. And there he is. I had two brothers and a sister, and my mother and father had moved from England. I couldn't figure out why I was brown and they were white, and then one day a tall Maori came, Kaihu, to see my sister. Well, that's when I found out that my sister was my mother. Oh my gosh. And my brothers were my uncles, and my parents were my grandfather and grandmother. CHUCKLES: Oh true? I was told the truth that Kaihu Renata Tenahuru, he was my father. Wow. When I was about 20, I met this sailor. He was drunk. (LAUGHTER) They stumbled across the dance floor, and one said to the other, 'I dare you to dance with that girl.' That was me. (CHUCKLES) He comes over and picks me up, swings me around. He pulled my dress and it came undone, so I had to... I had to go sit down. And that's how I got to know him. (CHUCKLES) And you sailed to America? Yeah, I came into San Francisco on April the 7th 1946. Far out. That was the Lurline that took all of us across. There was 1200 of us on board. So, you've been here for a long time now. Do you still feel... As a Maori, do you still` being over here for so long...? I still think of the Maori connection. Yep. You feel that strongly. Yeah. And all my kids do too. They go back there and they've met some of the family, the Maori side. Yeah. I just love your tattoo too. Oh, thank you! My cousin did this for me. This is a hammerhead shark. It represents my guardian. That's my grandmother who passed away, and my grandfather... Yeah, it represents` Every little thing represents something. That represents my marae, and that little koru there represents the baby that I lost. A lot of people just get it for the look, but this is, you know` this is our whakapapa, our history and, you know, our family, and to bring something from home for you... Isn't that beautiful? Do you want me to put it on you? Yes, please. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Meeting June was really awesome for me. Just hearing her story was one of my favourite things. Her journey of life is incredible, and I feel like she's a woman of solid character. And after 70 years of living in the States, she's retained a strong sense of being not just Maori but being a Kiwi, and she's still strong with connecting back to her roots, especially for her kids and her grandkids and her great grandkids. They're very proud of their heritage, and it's awesome for me. Like, I'm proud to see other Maori who have never been brought up Maori ` proud of their heritage. If you've got Maori in you, you know, eventually it's gon' get you. (REFLECTIVE PIANO MUSIC) Coming up, Stan gets into the groove in Las Vegas, while Jacinda Ardern pays her respects. Yeah, and who knows? I could well have been the very first relative that's ever visited that grave. Jacinda Ardern came to Greece to learn about her father's family history, and now she's about to find out that Athens is also a part of her mother's history as well. When I was a student, I always really loved history. I always loved politics. I guess Greece, for me, represented a combination of those two things. But being here and experiencing it rather than doing it by correspondence in the Morrinsville College library is pretty special. (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Hello, Richard. Good morning, Jacinda. Now, your father's DNA has led you to Athens, but it's a very important city for your mother's family as well. Your great uncle, Albert Sydney Cammock, died here trying to keep the German army at bay. His company blew up roads and bridges so the ANZACS could escape. 50,000 made it out before the Germans invaded. and he now lies up the coast in the Phaleron Cemetery. Over the years, I've gone through a lot of records around my relatives' involvement with both wars. Arriving at the cemetery in Greece, not realising that I had a relative there and just seeing those hundreds of tombstones in that beautifully kept cemetery, but knowing a relative was there who had been buried so far away from home, it was a really powerful thing to have a chance to go and see. A. S. Cammock. New Zealand Engineers. Died 26th April 1941. Age ` 42. 'Cammock' is a relative of mine on my mother's side via my grandfather. They were migrants from Ireland to New Zealand, and I had absolutely no idea that one of my relatives was buried here, which is really, really, really sad. So, he was, um, an engineer. (READS) Sapper 2173. Sappers, they were, I guess, the workers. They built the roads, built the bridges, cleared the mines. Uh, workers of the war, I guess. Seeing the actual physical place where a relative was buried in an overseas country, that really brought home for me how difficult that must have been for relatives at that time to know that that person would be buried so far away and they'd potentially never, ever have a chance to visit that site. Yeah, who knows? I could well have been the very first relative that's ever visited that grave. That was a really powerful thing to experience. Stan Walker is on his way to Las Vegas to meet his cousin Klaus. Well, this is not a casino. (LAUGHS) And so I'm about to go and meet my relative. Hi, Stan. Hey. My name's Klaus. I think we might be related. Far out. Nice to meet you. (CHUCKLES) You too. Come on in. When I first saw Klaus, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh. This is like looking at my own people. It's like looking at my own family.' It's crazy how we look alike, isn't it? I know. I feel like that you could actually just be just one of us. I completely agree. I mean, you look like a younger version of me. Well... that's good. (BOTH LAUGH) So, my question is ` why did you get your DNA tested? My children had some health issues, so their mother thought that maybe I should look into my ancestry and see how much we matched DNA-wise. So when I got the results back from the lab, you showed up as my second cousin. That is the weirdest thing, isn't it? Trippy. I think 'trippy' is the word you used before. Trippy, yes! (LAUGHS) Especially when I think about how far away you live presently. I know. It's like we're literally on the other side of the world. Literally on the other side of the globe. And, like, Maori people are very staunch and knowledgeable of where we come from and who's our family and how we're connected. It gets handed down. It's genealogy, but we call it our whakapapa. It's interesting to hear you talk about that, where when I think of my side of the family, my father is almost the opposite of what you're describing with how close he is with his family. Yep. And the other side is my mother, and my mother is Polynesian. Look at that. Wow. She's from a small island in the South Pacific you may never have heard of ` Rapa Nui. Yeah. My mother's from Rapa Nui. I've always wanted to go to Rapa Nui. Really? Always! So, when I think about the way you describe what you're talking about with the ` tell me that word again. Whakapapa. Yeah. That part that you're describing, she talks about that as well when she was a child... Wow. ...and how this person was her brother who was also her godfather who was connected to this where she... exactly what you're describing, so there must be` that must be the connection somewhere from that side of my family. Wow. I did not know that you were Rapa Nui. I tried to hide that part of my life for a long time ` growing up in Virginia, being a little ostracised, because people don't look like you and I do. Yeah, yeah. Grew up, got older, started to meet more sophisticated girls that weren't from places like Virginia. Yeah. I started to be a little more interested in where I came from. And my mother died when I was young, and she's buried there. Yeah. So I thought I should go back and visit. Hopped on an aeroplane, flew there, got picked up at the airport, didn't realize that it's exactly how you're describing when you grew up. It's just like that. It's, uh... Yeah. And I felt like I had been there almost as if I had never left, and even kind of made me feel that it was expected that I would say that the mana of the island would keep me there. Yeah. I've never actually met anybody from Rapa Nui. Well... (LAUGHS) Far out. Oh my gosh. You know, when I look at these, I honestly I just see, like, Maori people. They could be any one of us, you know, 50 years ago. My brothers. That's amazing. Far out Yeah, they just look like they're from home. When I first saw Klaus, I was like, 'Oh, this is gonna be interesting.' He's a pilot living in Las Vegas. He's half Rapa Nui, half German. Racers, are you ready? BOTH: Ready! Go! Klaus is actually an awesome, awesome guy. I had a really good time with him, connecting with him. I also think that me being there was almost a reconnection for him back to his homeland and back to his mother's home land and back to his people and back to who he is, you know, not just being an American, but, you know, he's from Rapa Nui as well. That was a big thing for me. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Here we go. Sorry. No worries. OK. Sorry to break up the family party, Stan, but another family reunion awaits you. So pack your bags. You're off to Klaus's motherland of Rapa Nui. Mm-hm. I am going to Rapa Nui. (LAUGHS) Did you know about this? I did! (LAUGHS) No way! After the break, Jacinda goes stateside, while Stan greets the new day in Rapa Nui. It's a little bit emotional, just seeing all these... big things. Jacinda Ardern is digging deeper into her Irish roots. Having discovered her great uncle died in a battle in Athens, she's now in Syracuse in America to meet Bruce, another cousin from her mother's side. So, I'm really excited to be learning a little bit more about my mother's side of the family. The Cammocks came out from Ireland to New Zealand, and I think it's, kind of, easy to believe that that was the beginning and end of their story, in a lot of ways. But it turns out my relation was really the only one that ended up in New Zealand. The rest of his family came here to Syracuse. And the reason I'm happy to learn about this side ` well, my great grandmother Louisa, her mother died after giving birth to her, so she knew almost nothing about this side of her family. So pretty special to learn a bit more about them and to be here to do it. Jacinda's great, great grandparents, Esther and Alexander Cammock, sailed to New Zealand in 1867, and while they were doing that, Alexander's two brothers and sister emigrated to the USA where the family remains deeply entrenched. Hi! You must be Bruce. Hello. Are you Jacinda? Cousin! I am! Such a` Cousin Bruce! How are you? It's such a pleasure to meet you. Oh, it's great. It's great. Thank you so much. And you came all this way. Just for you, Bruce. (LAUGHS) That's great. What a great trip, huh? It's been wonderful. I didn't think I would end up in Syracuse, I have to say. This is a strange place to meet people. It's unusual. A graveyard, especially unusual. Yeah, especially this one. Yeah. So, you've got family members right here? Right here. Right here, that's my grandfather. Alexander. That seems to run through the family, that name. Yeah, they do. It does. I have a map ` these are all relatives. And so there's some Cammocks scattered around here as well? Yeah. Oh yes. Yeah. Yep. Yep. His mother was a Cammock ` Margaret. Yes. Ah, Margaret ` so my great, great, great aunty. Yes, correct. Ahh, right. Oh, fantastic. So made the link already. The great thing about meeting Bruce was it was such a direct connection. We knew exactly how we were related and via who, and that meant we could talk about people and stories. So, Isabella, who I think would have been your great aunt, she died three weeks after giving birth to my great` my great grandmother. Yeah. And Louisa, she went off to live with the other side of the family. Never knew anything about her mother or her mother's family. OK. So, we're headed up here where Isabella and Hugh are buried, according to my map. And so that would be my... who my great, great grandmother was named after. That's right. That's right, yeah. Oh well, I think it's nice, even though all that distance that Alexander went all that way to New Zealand, he still thought to name his daughter after his sister. Yeah. These were my great, great, great grandparents, but Alexander's the only one that came to New Zealand instead of Syracuse. And three other siblings came to the United States. All of them, bar him. So any idea why he chose New Zealand? He knew something they didn't know, must be. Alexander's sister Margaret, who is my great grandmother, she came here with a big brood of kids and settled in. She was here a long time. I mean, she lived another 40 years or more. Margaret and her husband, Hugh, my great grandfather, had each been married once before, and then they married each other, so they had some of her children and some of his children and some of their children. And then a whole bunch more. Yeah. So, Bruce, it strikes me that there's a lot of Cammocks involved in both WW1 and WW2. Have you struck that as well? Well, what I find really remarkable is how many New Zealanders went to war ` 10% of the population in the First World War, and it must be 8% or so in the Second World War. Given that, it's not remarkable how many Cammocks were involved. Of course. But, sure, I think there are eight or 10 who lost their lives in the two wars combined. When we were in Athens, we went out and found Albert Sydney's gravestone. Oh, that's great. You can see that there. That's great, yeah. In the most beautifully well-kept cemetery. April 1941. Mm-hm. There was another that I found who also I think in the Netherlands was killed. He was apparently very good at shooting down what they called 'flying bombs', and the 'flying bombs' were the Germans' V1 and V2 missiles. So, we had aviators and engineers? That's right. To hear the stories of the other half of the family, the family that came to Syracuse, and to know that your relatives took a different path and to know probably how close you came to never existing had they just settled somewhere else, that was really an interesting conversation to have. I think that one thing that struck me, though, in having a chat with Bruce was that both of us had had some unanswered questions. And, as Bruce said, 'Well, you know, my relatives never left me a note.' I think we should leave more notes, you know, because someone out there one day is going to be interested in our lives and the choices that we made. (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Hi, Richard. SINGS: 'It's a long way to Tipperary.' But you're not going there. Yes, it's au resevoir, Syracuse, and bonjour Montreal. Hm, Montreal. Oh, mais oui, the most French of Canadian cities. And you're going to meet your DNA relative, White Feather, in her laboratory. White Feather? I have never heard of the name 'White Feather' before. Oh well. I guess we're going to Montreal! (CHUCKLES) Entertainer Stan Walker's DNA odyssey led him to America, where he met his cousin Klaus and learned of the family connection to Rapa Nui. And now he's about to learn a whole lot more. (TEXT MESSAGE CHIMES) Good morning, Stan. Welcome to Rapa Nui. Much like the Maori people, the local chaps have an exceptionally rich history, so we've arranged for your third cousin Nico to share some of that with you. (KNOCKING ON DOOR) Hey, bro. Hello. Are you Nico? Yes. I'm Stan. Stan! Yes. How are you? Klaus told me that you was coming. Oh, wicked. Please. I got my DNA tested, and it has traced me all the way back here to Rapa Nui. Wow. And I met your uncle Klaus... Klaus. ...in Las Vegas. And so I've come here to meet you. Like, I've always wanted to come to Rapa Nui, so yeah. It's really interesting, though, like, tracking all the way back... Yeah. ...to your ancestral DNA. It's amazing, you know, the island here, Easter Island, has a big history, you know? Mm. In ancient times, there were great sailors that travelled all the way, so probably the whole Polynesian descendants come from the same route, you know? Yeah. So, yes, there's this big ancient tale about the people that first got here, they came from a lost continent. In our tale ` it's called 'heba' ` the tale said that there were seven brothers and sisters. So one went to Hawaii, one went to New Zealand, another went to Tahiti, another went to Marquesas, and the other moved to the naval of the world. Yep. Rapa Nui ` Easter Island. Watching the sun unveil the Moai, it has to be one of the most incredible things I've ever experienced, ever seen and ever felt. This is mean. These statues, I've seen them my whole life. Now I get to see them in real life, it's quite surreal, actually. Even when I was coming here, it's like` even it's a little bit emotional, just seeing all these... big things. (LAUGHS) So, my friend, we have big statue here, the Moai. Our ancient people call it 'Aringa ora o te tupuna'. This was their representation of the living face of the ancestor. They were watching and protecting the people that lived in the village ` used to live in front of them. Yeah, yeah. So here's where the people used to live in front of the ancestor, watching them. Why are they facing inwards? They believe about the spirits, no? That they were watching you from the other side, all the time... Oh yep. ...from the other dimension, we can say that. And the idea was to also control the islanders, because many people believe, 'Why are they not looking to the sea against the enemies that arrive?' Yeah, yeah. There were no enemies coming from outside. They had to watch themselves from themselves. Yeah. Yep. You know? (CHUCKLES) From their own problems. What's the foundation, you know which it's on and what does this represent? All of that. The platform here that we call 'ahu' is the graveyard, is the place where they buried people. Yeah. Because they believed that it was the bones that contains your mana, your soul. And then the Moai become like a representation of the person that is buried underneath. Yeah. Coming up ` STAN, NICO: Ohhhh! You see? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stan takes to island life like a fish to water, while Jacinda finds a kindred spirit in Canada. Genetically, we're so similar, we could be sisters. Are you kidding? Politician Jacinda Ardern has been investigating her Irish DNA. Her forbearers from the Emerald Isle favoured America, but some of them set up in Canada. So, I've made it here to Montreal, and I still have absolutely no idea why I'm here. I don't know if I'm meeting a relative or a complete stranger. All I know is that I'm meeting them here at the university and that we're going to a lab. But for now, we wait. Hi, Jacinda! Oh, hi! I'm White Feather. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thank you` You've travelled a long way to be here. I have, and I have no idea who you are. (LAUGHS) Well, you're going to find out. Oh, awesome. But I'd like to bring you into my lab. OK! OK. Want to come upstairs? This sounds really ominous, but OK. (LAUGHS) Oh, it's going to be fun. Awesome. Yeah, you'll see. Thank you. Thanks for meeting me. Shall we...? OK, so come with me. So, White Feather, I still really don't have much of an idea as to why I'm here, and I'm hoping that you might be able to give me a little bit more information, a clue maybe. Am I related to you? Well... (BOTH LAUGH) The first thing I can tell you is that, yes, we are related. Oh wow. OK. Yes. And, in fact, when I sent my genetic information to be compared with yours, we were almost identical. Are you kidding? I'm not sure how far back our common ancestry actually goes, but we are very, very closely matched. Ah. Genetically, we're so similar, we could be sisters. That's crazy. Yeah. And yet we've ended up in completely different parts of the world. I know. It's amazing. It is amazing. Yep. I think we have similar politics too, which is really nice. (LAUGHS) Excellent! I didn't want to ask. Yes! Yeah, absolutely. (LAUGHS) The work that White Feather does is unlike any work that I had ever come across before. I work as a technician here, and I'm a trained bio-artist. So I have a formal background in fine arts. As part of my practice, I also play with DNA. By working with it as an artistic practice and placing it in a gallery, you know, that's my method of interpretation to help people think critically about what happens, so... Accessible science. Exactly. At high school I did a science project trying to find a natural way to stop bowling greens from being destroyed by this terrible bacterium. What you do is next level. (LAUGHS) Interesting. White Feather, yeah, she was wonderful to meet and really interesting to talk to, and I felt really happy to know I was connected to her in some way. Ultimately I think the thing that I'll come away from this trip, feeling overall is that as much as I've always thought my heritage was boring ` you know, I was Scottish and I was Irish ` behind that ancestry sits these amazing stories, these powerful, courageous individuals who I feel really proud to be connected to. There were some gaps in our family knowledge on my dad's side, and so it's been great to get a few more answers around where he's come from and finding out that there's a little bit of southern European in there explains a little bit. (LAUGHS) It doesn't change anything about anyone's upbringing or origins or stories, but it is good to know, and it's been really interesting to find out. Stan's DNA journey has taken him to Rapa Nui, best known to us as Easter Island, and now he's looking at his ancestry with very fresh eyes. I've come to the realization, and I almost had, like, a revelation that there's more out there, there's not just Maori, cos I was brought up staunch Maori ` like, you know, Maori are the best, we're better than everybody, we're the strongest, we're the greatest. And we are ` this is true. (LAUGHS) But there's more to it than that; there's more to us than that; there's more in the world than us, you know? We're just a little dot on the map. I feel like I'm more connected now to Polynesian people than I ever have been. Stan's got just the one more day left in Rapa Nui, and his cousin Nico is about to give him a taste of ancient island life. These paintings of the sea birds. were very important in ancient times, because it's how they probably they get here ` following the migrations of the sea birds. This kind of birds is called 'manu tara'. So these are very long time here, because they mix it, you know, the soil colours, white, red, here, they mix it with sugar cane juice so it stays longer time. Yeah, yeah. So we still can see them here. One of the only places on the island where you still can see these kind of paintings. So, how old are these? Well, it's very hard to know exactly the dating, because there's no carbon, you know? So that's why the history of Easter Island is so mystical. Yeah, yeah. You know, mystical because we don't know exactly when a statue was shaped, for example. (CHUCKLES) It's wicked, eh? This is a long time. See, we don't have that sort of stuff back home in New Zealand. It's more carvings, you know ` like our` Wood carvings. We've carved out everything. (LAUGHS) It's a different expression, no? Yeah. They also made petroglyphs, you know, like, a carving, but on the stone. Yeah. So they were living in the stone age but in a very later period. We are still in contact with nature. We can fish. We can spear dive. I think there are just a few places in the world where we can stay still living from the nature. Yeah, yeah. And this is one of them. Meeting Nico, it was one of my favourite parts ` just the whole experience. Nah, they keep biting then pulling off. Bring it up. When you feel it... Oh, you can see it! BOTH: Ohhhhh! You see? Yeah, yeah, yeah! They are coming in! This is mean! I've felt like we were on the same page in terms of wanting to uphold our traditions, you know? Him as a Rapa Nui person, me as a Maori person, and just realizing how similar we were, how similar our cultures are and how connected our cultures are. So, you love living on the island, bro? Yes. Look at my office. Yeah, bro. That's wicked. (LAUGHS) (CLICKS TONGUE) This trip for me has been very unexpected. I didn't expect to come to Rapa Nui. I didn't expect to go to LA. I didn't expect to go to Las Vegas. To come here and find out that, you know, once upon a time, we were one people... Maori, Tahitians, Rapa Nui and Rarotonga and even Hawaii, you know, we were all one at once, way back in the days. You know, as Maori, we talk about Hawaiki, we come from a place, and everybody shares the same sort of story. It may be a different name, but it's a lost continent where we come from, and we share the same history, just slightly different stories. I feel like I've come home in a sense, learning about myself, about my history, for myself and for my family, and, yeah, it's been incredible. Meeting the people I've met ` amazing. My relations on the other side of the world, in Chino Hills and Las Vegas and in Rapa Nui. To find out that these people share the same DNA, the same blood as me, I feel that same feeling, that whanau, that whakawhanaungatanga. Yeah, it's awesome. I'm going to take away that ` more whanau. Chur! Our DNA contains tiny hints that tell us how our forbearers travelled. It shows us where to look to uncover traces of their lives and the stories we find to help bring them back to life. I wonder who's going to be brave enough to take the test next week. Why don't you join me to find out? Captions by Jake Ebdale. www.able.co.nz