Biography of

Beau Enoka MacKey

 

Beau Enoka MacKey was born in Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand, on October 9, 1983, as a twin. His father named him Beau, after Beauregard "Bo" Duke from the American television series Dukes of Hazzard.

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Beau’s identity is deeply shaped by his whakapapa, a blend of Māori and Scottish ancestries he has documented on and off for over 17 years. Through his paternal grandfather, Enoka, he is connected to the Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Hauiti, and Ngāti Konohi tribes. His lineage traces back to the ancestors Paikea, who traversed the sea on the back of a whale from Mangaia to Whangara; Porourangi, from whom Ngāti Porou derive their name; Konohi; to Rawiri Te Eke-tu-o-te-Rangi (a Chief who signed the Treaty of Waitangi); and his son Rutene (Brother of Hirini Te Kani). Rutene’s daughter, Mere Whakaangi, married Rawiri Maki, a soldier for the Forest Rangers who fought against Te Kooti and lived with Te Kani-a-Takirau, the Paramount Chief of Te Tairawhiti. Rawiri was the son of James David MacKey, a Scottish whaler and British Royal Navy veteran who was shot in the cheek during the Greek War of Independence before immigrating to New Zealand. On his father’s Scottish side, the MacKey clan originates from the Royal House of Moray, with direct Male Bloodline descent to Scottish Kings Lulach and Malcolm III.

 

Through his paternal grandmother, Olivia Rihimona, he is linked to the Ngāi Tai, Whakatōhea, and Te Whānau ā Apanui tribes, and descends from the chief Te Reti Whatiia of Ngāi Tupoto, Te Rarawa. His Great-Grandfathers, Kerehona MacKey and Wharetini Rihimona, served in World War I for the Māori Pioneer Battalion.

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His maternal lineage, through his grandfather Reverend Charles Brown Shortland (a Māori Anglican minister and personal chaplain to Māori King Koroki), descends from Paramount Ngāti Hine Chieftains Hoterene Paraone Kawiti and Maihi Paraone Kawiti (grandson and son of the Paramount Chief of Ngāti Hine Tribe, Kawiti, who led his people against the British during the Northern War). Through his maternal grandmother, he connects to the tribes Ngāti Hine, Te Uri Taniwha, and Ngāti Whakaue of Te Arawa.

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A severe burn sustained in a childhood accident to the back of his head from a fireplace is cited by him as a formative event that profoundly influenced his life. Beau’s father introduced him to Rugby League at age 5, which he played until he was 13, and his passion for basketball was ignited by collecting cards. At age 15, at a Tall Blacks Basketball camp, he was awarded Most Valuable Player after stealing the ball five times from Dillon Boucher, a man with a record 13 championships in Australasian basketball history. In 1999 and 2000, he played for Whangarei Boys’ High School's 1st Basketball Team and also for the 1st 15 Rugby Team in 2000. That same year, he was named Co-High School Basketball Player of the Year with his twin brother. Following his secondary education, he studied a Diploma in Sports and Leisure in 2001.

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He went on to represent Northland for nearly two decades. In 2003, he made the National Premier Men’s Northland Basketball Team. In 2004, he was the only player selected from Northland and a starter for a National Basketball Tournament Team to Vanuatu. He was scouted by the New Zealand Basketball League team Taranaki Mountain Airs. He then trialed for the Auckland Stars with Coaches Kenny Stone and Merve Tait; impressing the coaches, they started him at point guard in the trial game. Despite a hard-earned effort, his professional contract slipped away due to mismanagement.

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Beau’s personal life saw a significant change in 2005 when he met the mother of his two sons, born in 2007 and 2008. After their separation, Beau navigated the complexities of the Family Court system, successfully securing shared care as a solo father. During this time, he began a serious pursuit of spirituality and philosophy, pondering the teachings of Alan Watts, Osho, Buddhism, and the Tao Te Ching. In 2010, Beau played for the Northland Suns basketball team. He also founded a Club Basketball team which he Captained and named Raumanga Royals, winning the Inaugural Northland Basketball Competition in 2011. After a falling out with his mate, the Northland Suns’ CEO, he transitioned to club rugby league, playing two seasons for the Hora Hora Broncos—a period characterized by travel, social gatherings, and hanging out with gang members. He had an opportunity to trial for the Northland Swords Rugby League Team but declined, effectively closing the door on that chapter of his life.

In 2015, Beau entered a relationship with the daughter of a German village mayor. Their time together involved travel across Europe where he saw the Dalai Lama in Frankfurt, performed a solo haka in Berlin's Mauer Park, sought the counsel of a Mongolian shaman in Switzerland for PTSD, and experienced life among the homeless during the night in Paris—an experience that would foreshadow his own struggles.

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Upon his return to New Zealand, Beau became homeless after leaving his flat due to a flatmate's drug use. He lived in a tent and his mother's car while battling depression for months; while working as a traffic controller and laborer, he eventually bought a van and adopted a nomadic lifestyle. He lived from his van, working out, showering, and charging his gadgets at a gym, as well as traveling regularly to his ancestors' homelands and the beach. Following separation from his ex-girlfriend, Beau worked at the Marsden Point Oil Refinery while experiencing severe depression, then worked for a Scaffolding Company.

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At the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, Beau gave up work and a trip to Cape Reinga, which resulted in his mate's vehicle becoming stuck on 90 Mile Beach. This led him to a profound tramp inland for three hours where he saw wild horses, and eventually to a transformative five months living alone in nature. During this time, he endured mental health challenges and a raw survival experience, spending four consecutive nights exposed to winter weather, which he credits with healing from PTSD. This period also led to a distressing incident in a cemetery where he attempted to dig up his father's body, inadvertently stumbling upon an unfamiliar, spiritual yet daunting phenomenon. Diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis, he was institutionalized seven times within the mental health system and faced fourteen recorded incidents with the police, including arrests, injuries in custody, an alleged assault on a police officer, a romantic entanglement while institutionalized, and a desperate escape from a mental health facility.

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Despite the turmoil, Beau’s commitment to personal growth has remained unwavering. Since 2012, he has immersed himself in philosophy, spirituality, and genealogy. Currently, Mr. MacKey is a dedicated historian and author. His book on the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand and the Treaty of Waitangi, entitled The British Monarch, Māori Chiefs and Sub-Tribes of New Zealand, has been formally acknowledged and archived by the British Museum’s Anthropology Library. His other published works include the two-volume book Ancient and Modern Philosophers and Great Thinkers: Wisdom and Quotes, Māori Life: A Century in New Zealand Society, and his personal memoir, 9 Lives of Wisdom. This memoir utilizes the analogy of "cat lives"—where each major shift represents a new chapter, a death, and a reincarnation—to explore the radical transformations required to find a true state of being