Taika Waititi made history at the 92nd Academy Awards Sunday night when he became the first Indigenous director to win an Oscar.

Waititi, who is of Mori heritage, won Best Adapted Screenplay for his World War II anti-hate satire Jojo Rabbit which he wrote, directed and starred in. He is the first Indigenous person to be nominated in the category.

The New Zealand filmmaker accepted his award in classic Kiwi fashion, signing off his speech with the Mori greeting and expression of thanks kia ora.

He thanked his mom for being my mother and for introducing him to the book he adapted, Christine Leunens Caging Skies, before dedicating his win to Indigenous children around the world with aspirations to create art.

I dedicate this to all the Indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance and write stories, he said. We are the original storytellers and we can make it here, as well.

The film is nominated in five other categories: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Scarlett Johansson), Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing.