Knowing one's whakapapa and being connected to your whanau, marae, hapū and iwi is considered norm for Māori, but for other Māori, this is not a reality. The impacts of colonisation and other Eurocentric ideologies embedded in child welfare legislation has led to Māori who do not know their whakapapa whanau. This rangahau focuses on one subset of this cohort - the Māori adoptee. Under New Zealand Adoption Act 1955, this group were given new names and identities and their birth identity concealed. A consequence of this secretive closed adoption practices is that reconnecting to whakapapa is challenging for Māori adoptees and their descendants. The study explores the emotional and spiritual experiences of Māori adoptees as they navigate their journey of whakapapa discovery.