Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
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Emeritus Professor Ngahuia te Awekotuku continues to contribute in the arts and creative sector. With degrees in Art History and English, her PhD (1981) was in cultural psychology. She wrote an early (1991) monograph on Māori research ethics. For decades she served in the heritage environment as a governor, curator and activist/advocate. Her scholarly works on culture, gender, heritage and sexuality, and her fiction and poetry, have been published and acclaimed locally and internationally.
Ngahuia is a pioneering Māori writer, academic, curator and activist whose work has shaped the cultural and intellectual landscape of Aotearoa. A fearless advocate for Māori rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ communities, she has been at the forefront of Indigenous scholarship and creative expression for over five decades.
Her research and writing span Māori art, heritage, performance, gender, sexuality and identity, and she has published widely in both academic and creative forms. She was among the first to write critically on contemporary Māori art and artists, and her influence continues to guide generations of researchers and practitioners.
Ngahuia has held senior roles across universities, museums and arts organisations, curating exhibitions that bring Māori voices and taonga to the centre. She has received numerous honours recognising her contribution, including being made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).
Her voice remains vital in ensuring Māori knowledge, tikanga and creativity are acknowledged, protected and celebrated.
Rangahau · Related projects
This Ageing Well NSC research project explored the unique role of kaumātua within Ngāti Whakaue, challenging government definitions that homogenise Māori elders. It highlights how kaumātua serve whānau, marae, hapū, and iwi—and what’s needed to support and sustain their leadership into the future.
View projectKaumātua Futures: Ko te pae tawhiti, whāia kia tata. Ngāti Whakaue Case Study
This Ageing Well NSC research project explored the unique role of kaumātua within Ngāti Whakaue, challenging government definitions that homogenise Māori elders. It highlights how kaumātua serve whānau, marae, hapū, and iwi—and what’s needed to support and sustain their leadership into the future.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Researcher and academic, Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora was formerly the Director of the Māori & Psychology Research Unit in the School of Psychology at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. In 2017, she became a Professor Indigenous Studies at the University of Auckland where she was also Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (2017-2025). She presently teaches in the Master's of Indigenous Studies programme and supervises dissertations, master's theses and PhDs.Her specialty interests are in the development of indigenous psychologies… -
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia te Awekotuku continues to contribute in the arts and creative sector. With degrees in Art History and English, her PhD (1981) was in cultural psychology. She wrote an early (1991) monograph on Māori research ethics. For decades she served in the heritage environment as a governor, curator and activist/advocate. Her scholarly works on culture, gender, heritage and sexuality, and her fiction and poetry, have been published and acclaimed locally and internationally.Ngahuia is a pioneering Māori writer, academic, curator and activist whose work has shaped the cultural… -
Okeroa McRae
Okeroa McRae
Okeroa's research experience in academia, with whānau, Māori communities, iwi/hapū, non-government organisations and within central government has afforded her with skills and attributes to work effectively across diverse landscapes. -
Kiri Edge
Kiri Edge
Kiri Edge has contributed to a wide range of interdisciplinary research and evaluation projects across both academic and community contexts. Kiri is experienced working within complex and sensitive topics, and engaging with people, whānau, and communities that some consider ‘hard to reach’. Kiri’s research interests are diverse, but pivot towards endeavours that contribute towards Māori wellbeing and flourishing, equity, social justice and sustainable community-driven development. Kiri’s current rangahau interests include reclamation of indigenous pathways to wellbeing, grieving within and…
We are now 30+ years on from when our children first had the opportunity to attend Kōhanga. They are a part of a fortunate generation, like those who will follow them. And so too are those that are following. But what of those older Māori, their parents and grandparents, some of who do speak te reo but many who do not? What challenges to tikanga, age…
View projectChallenges and continuities: Unintended impacts of Te Reo Māori language revitalisation efforts
We are now 30+ years on from when our children first had the opportunity to attend Kōhanga. They are a part of a fortunate generation, like those who will follow them. And so too are those that are following. But what of those older Māori, their parents and grandparents, some of who do speak te reo but many who do not? What challenges to tikanga, age related roles and relationships do these demographics present? Status, mana, roles, responsibilities, ritual duties and leadership are all age related concepts that, in the Māori world, assume a foundation of learning that leads to experience, competence and accumulated wisdom over time.
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Researcher and academic, Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora was formerly the Director of the Māori & Psychology Research Unit in the School of Psychology at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. In 2017, she became a Professor Indigenous Studies at the University of Auckland where she was also Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (2017-2025). She presently teaches in the Master's of Indigenous Studies programme and supervises dissertations, master's theses and PhDs.Her specialty interests are in the development of indigenous psychologies… -
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia te Awekotuku continues to contribute in the arts and creative sector. With degrees in Art History and English, her PhD (1981) was in cultural psychology. She wrote an early (1991) monograph on Māori research ethics. For decades she served in the heritage environment as a governor, curator and activist/advocate. Her scholarly works on culture, gender, heritage and sexuality, and her fiction and poetry, have been published and acclaimed locally and internationally.Ngahuia is a pioneering Māori writer, academic, curator and activist whose work has shaped the cultural… -
Professor Waikaremoana Waitoki
Professor Waikaremoana Waitoki
Waikaremoana is a Professor and Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is a clinical psychologist with experience in adolescent and maternal mental health. She is a past president of the New Zealand Psychological Society, and inaugural co-chair of the Māori psychologist’s network, He Paiaka Totara. She is the co-editor of the first Indigenous psychology book, Te Manu Kai i te Mātauranga which is used nationally and internationally in teaching about monoculturalism and racism in psychology. She is also the co-editor…
Ētahi atu · Other people
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine
Tūhoe
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) is a leading Māori health researcher and internationally respected authority on…
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine
Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa
Te Whare Wananga o Wairaka Unitec
Associate Professor Deborah Heke (Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa) is the Director of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research…
Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Kiri Edge
Ngāti Maniapoto
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Kiri Edge has contributed to a wide range of interdisciplinary research and evaluation projects across both academic…