[6] Roma Potiki was born in Lower Hutt, a city in the Wellington Region, and grew up in the suburb Wainuiomata.
She was in a play performed by Te Ika A Maui Players in 1978 called Death of the Land by Rore Hapipi's (Rowley Habib).
It started in with the 1975 Māori Land March, included reference to occupations at the Raglan Golf Course, Bastion Point and the protests by Ngā Tamatoa during Waitangi Day.
[13] Before actor Rena Owen was in Once Were Warriors she performed a similar role in theatre company He Ara Hou's play Whatungarongaro that Potiki a co-creator of.
[15] Another New Zealand theatre and film writer Briar Grace-Smith was an assistant to Potiki and learnt from the process of making Whatungarongaro.