Jordan Riki literally wears his Māori heritage on his sleeve for all to see, but has only now become more confident in exploring his Indigenous Australian lineage from his biological father.
For a long time, the Broncos enforcer only knew that his father was an Indigenous Australian, conceding he had little understanding of that side of himself and his extended family before taking steps to learn more about his cultural past.
And had he not stepped forward on to the NRL stage, Riki admits he might never have been connected to his wider family at all.
"I think I must have played a handful of NRL games and his family always knew about me, but just didn't know how to find me," Riki told NRL.com.
"They saw my games so they reached out to myself and gave me a few names of my biological father's grandparents and their great-grandparents as well.
"I always knew that side of me was there. My mum had always told me from a young age that my biological father was an Indigenous man, but, sadly he just wasn't around when I was younger, so it was hard for us to actually reconnect and find out anything in that aspect.
“It was kind of it kind of blessing really playing NRL and that's how they found out about me. I took those names to the community team and we went from there – I'm actually on a pretty special journey at the moment.
"I'm extremely keen to get down to Adelaide where my found tribe is, the Noongar People. I'm keen to get down there and hopefully reach out to a few people.
While unique, Riki's journey is one shared by many people who come to know of their culture later in life, with a meet-up with Nicho Hynes after their All Stars match in Rotorua last year helped him take the next steps on his path to discovery.
Riki was making his third appearance for the Māori side, but found himself connecting with the Sharks playmaker over their Indigenous journeys.
“Me and Nicho actually were sitting down together at some point and he heard that I was Indigenous and that I wanted to find out about my journey," Riki said.
"He started explaining he’s in the same boat as me, he doesn't know much, but he's definitely keen to find out some more. We ended up catching up after the game to celebrate both cultures and what a special week it is.
“We just shared that really special connection and it was just really cool.”
With his Māori heritage on his skin, Riki will proudly wear the Broncos' Indigenous jersey on his chest this week, with teammates Kotoni Staggs, Selwyn Cobbo, Ezra Mam, Reece Walsh and Tristan Sailor all directly contributing to the design.
Riki – whose iwi is Tainui – said a shared pride in their people between the Indigenous Australian and Māori cultures was an important connection in his story.
“I'm such a proud Māori man and I know so much on my mum's side, so for me to go on this special journey on my father's side is hugely important to me,” he said.
“There's such rich, deep culture and it's just an amazing feeling to know and understand and start to learn the Indigenous side as well.
“The people are just so proud of who we are and what we represent. I love that everyone wears their heart on their sleeve and they're just so proud to be Māori or Indigenous.
“I'm extremely proud Māori man, but I'm definitely heading towards being a proud Indigenous man too.”
NRL.com
