Associate Professor Dean Mahuta

Ko Taupiri te maunga
Ko Waikato te awa
Ko Pōtatau te tangata
He piko, he taniwha,
Waikato taniwharau.

Kei aku nui, kei aku rahi, tēnā koutou katoa.
Me wehi ki a Ihowa, me whakahōnore Te Arikinui Kuīni Ngā-wai-hono-i-te-pō. Ki te huinga kahurangi o te pō, okioki atu rā koutou ki tua o Paerau, ki reira tiakina atu ai. Ki ngā toronga waka o te motu whānui e kapi nei te hunga ora whānui, tēnā tātou katoa.

Ko Dean Mahuta tōku ingoa, nō Waikato ahau, ko Ngāti Mahuta te hapū. I tupu mai au i Ngāruawāhia, ā, he raukura nō roto mai o te kura kaupapa Māori. I kuraina au ki Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga, he kura i whakapūmautia ai te reo me ngā tikanga Māori ki roto i aku mahi ā mohoa noa nei.

Dr. Dean Mahuta is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of Te Ipukarea Research Institute. The foundation of Dean’s work is his identity as Waikato and his chosen medium is te reo Māori.  Dean holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (First Class) and a Master of Arts with Distinction from the University of Otago, and a Doctorate from AUT. His BA(Hons) dissertation and his master’s thesis were written in te reo Māori and focused on the Kīngitanga and raupatu (land confiscations of the Waikato region) respectively. In 2010, Dean graduated with his PhD on Waikato identity and its connection to the Waikato River. Dean was the first PhD written in the Māori language at AUT.

Dean’s commitment to te reo Māori is also expressed in his leadership approach within the university. In 2021 he was invited to be a member on the MAI Journal Editorial Board for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga CoRE, and continues this role today. Dean has supported senior executive teams in the Faculty though Kaiwhakawhanake Reo – Language Development, by upskilling language and cultural knowledge for senior management colleagues. From 2022 to 2024, Dean was appointed as the inaugural Kaiwhakatere for the School of Communications, supporting the Schools alignment with Te Tiriti principles.

He is a strong advocate for normalising te reo Māori in the academy, through academic writing, the conducting of research, and in publications. Dean established the first and only biennial, open-subject conference held in the medium of te reo Māori called Te Puna o te Kī. The first conference was held in 2013, when he noticed a lack of opportunity for Māori speaking academics to share their work in te reo Māori. Te Puna o te Kī has provided a space for academics to present, publish, and discuss their research all in te reo Māori. Dean also supports the growth and development of assessment in te reo Māori across the University, providing leadership through marking, and processes for Schools.