The National Māori Language Institute

At the core of the Institute is the pursuit of excellence in scholarship, teaching and research in the Māori language and a collaboration of partners committed to advancing the mana of the Māori language. Funding has been allocated for six projects. The management of these projects is by staff based at AUT University.

Supporters

The supporters of Te Ipukarea’s board and partners are non-academic institutions with key roles in the development and revitalisation of the Māori language:

• Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori (Māori Language Commission)
• Māori Television
• Te Māngai Pāho (Māori Broadcasting Commission)

Te Whakaruruhau

The Advisory Board of Te Ipukarea reflects its partners and supporters and meets twice a year.

Te Wharehuia Milroy QSO

From Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Wharehuia Milroy is an expert of Māori language and tikanga Māori. In recognition of his contribution to the knowledge and development of te reo Māori and his work in the university he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato in 2005. He is now one of the principal tutors of the Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language [Te Panekiretanga o te Reo] at the Wānanga o Aotearoa, an invitation-only course aimed at developing expert speakers of te reo Māori.  Te Wharehuia has been on the board of the Māori Language Commission, the Waikato Museum and an advisor to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.

Tīmoti Kāretu QSO

Tīmoti is from Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungungu. He is regarded as an expert of the Māori language and kapa haka.  In 1970 he was the first Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Waikato. He was appointed as the first Māori Language Commissioner in 1987. He has been chairman of the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust since 2003.  He has been chairman of the committee that runs the National Performing Arts Festival and is a past judge. He is now the head of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo. Tīmoti has received honorary doctorates from Victoria University and the University of Waikato.

Pou Temara

From Ngāi Tuhoe Pou was a senior lecturer of the Māori Department of Victoria University from 1986 to 2002. He is now a Professor in the School of Māori Development at the University of Waikato. He is also a tutor for Te Panekiretanga o te Reo based at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Pou is is especially known as being skilled at all the traditional rites of opening wharenui and a skilled orator on marae.

Hana O’Regan

From Ngāi Tahu, Hana has been very involved in the revival of Ngāi Tahu dialect, primarily as a teacher of Māori language in the South Island. She is currently the dean of Te Puna Wānaka at the Christchurch Polytechnic Insitute of Technology. Hana is also a composer and writer in te reo Māori.

Te Ripowai Higgins QSM

Of Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Ripowai joined Te Kawa a Māui at Victoria University of Wellington as a lecturer in 1989 and later became a senior lecturer and was Head of School from 1999 to 2004. Since 2004 she has been Taurima of Te Herenga Waka Marae where she has been the ruahine since 1991. She is involved in a wide range of organisations and committees, including:

• Member of Te Māngai Pāho since 2002
• Member of NZ Council of Legal Education 2002-2004
• Trustee Te Upoko o Te Ika Maori Radio 1989-2002
• Member of Nga Kaiwhakapūmau i Te Reo since 1989
• Advisor to Wellington Kaumātua Council since 1996
• Member Te Ataarangi Inc. Soc. from 1982 and of Te Ataarangi Educational Trust since 1999.
• Trustee of Te Runanga o Te Ataarangi 2008.
• National Secretary and then National President of Te Ataarangi tetween 1982 and 1997.
• Trustee of both the Tūhoe Education Runanga and Tūhoe ki Pōneke Charitable Trust since 1995.
• Accreditation Panelist on the NZQA Whakaruruhau for both Te Reo Māori and Ngā Tikanga Māori since 1991.

Garrick Cooper

Garrick is from Te Pirirākau (Ngāti Ranginui-Tauranga Moana) and Ngāti Karaua (Ngāti Whanaunga - Hauraki). He is a lecturer of te reo Māori and Māori & Indigenous issues in Aotahi: School of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Canterbury.  He has been involved in kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori since 1990, as a parent and board member. More recently Garrick was involved in a number of research projects in the area of Māori medium education in his role as a researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. His main research areas bring together Māori knowledge, language and decolonisation.

Hariata McKean

Hariata is from Tauranga Moana. Hariata represents Lincoln University. She is currently a lecturer with Te Whanake Kaupapa Māori there. She has had roles with Statistics NZ and Census NZ.

Te Ipukarea Staff

A small team is based at AUT University in Auckland to carry out the projects, provide direction for the board and promote the work of Te Ipukarea on behalf of its partners.

Professor Tania Ka’ai Director

Tania, is the Director for Te Ipukarea – the National Māori Language Institute and is from Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Hawai’i and has links to the Pacific. She is an alumni of Waikato, Auckland and Harvard Universities. Tania has worked in tertiary education for 21 years; 12 of these in university education as a Professor. In 1996 she was appointed Foundation Professor and Head of the Department of Māori Studies at the University of Otago and was later appointed Dean of Te Tumu, the School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies. She joined Te Ara Poutama:  the Faculty of Māori Development in July 2007 and was appointed Director of Te Ipukarea in July 2008. Tania is also project leader for Te Kāwai Kūmara, a project funded by Ako Aotearoa.

Dr. John C. Moorfield Professor

Dr Moorfield has been Professor in Māori Innovation and Development at Te Ara Poutama, the Faculty of Māori Development since July 2007.  He is a specialist in Māori language, literature and culture, including teaching Māori as a second language.  Included in his publications are a series of four graduated textbooks and resources, called Te Whanake, for teaching Māori to teenagers and adults.  Most of the resources are now available online and include a dictionary, podcasts, and online assessment. See www.tewhanake.maori.nz.

Dr Muiris Ó Laoire Professor

Dr Ó Laoire joins AUT and the International Centre for Language Revitalisation as the inaugural chair in language revitalisation studies.  His extensive work in language revitalisation includes research conducted while serving as senior lecturer in the department of Humanities at the Institute of Technology, Tralee, Co. Kerry in Ireland, serving on the executive board and founding member of the International Association of Multilingualism.

Tania Smith Executive Assistant and Programme Administrator

Tania is from the Ngāti Ranginui tribe in the Bay of Plenty and also Waikato.  She is employed part-time as the Executive Assistant for Te Ipukarea and the International Centre for Language Revitalisation where she manages the administrative requirements for Te Ipukarea and the Centre.  Tania is also a part-time Programme Administrator:  Postgraduate for Te Ara Poutama.  She brings a wealth of tertiary institutional knowledge to AUT having spent seventeen years in administration at tertiary institutions.  Tania completed a Master of Professional Business Studies endorsed in Māori Development in 2010 and a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching in June of this year.  She is currently completing her proposal for a Master of Philosophy.

Elisa Duder Research Fellow

Elisa is a second language learner of the Māori language.  When her son was very young she decided his first language was to be Māori and through her son has seen the commitment language revitalisation efforts require of families and communities. Her research interests are the use of digital technologies in the second language teaching and learning of te reo Māori, the role of second language learners in language revitalisation and how Pākehā, or non-Māori, contribute to research in Māori contexts.

Dr. Rachael Ka‘ai-Mahuta Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer

Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu and Native Hawaiian descent. She also has connections to other areas of the Pacific. In December 2010 she graduated with her doctorate in Māori Development. Her thesis explored the role of Māori songs as political commentaries and archives of Māori political history. Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is a graduate of Māori language immersion schooling. She wrote her Master of Arts thesis entirely in the Māori language. Dr Ka‘ai-Mahuta is now a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama and a postdoctoral fellow in Te Ipukarea and the International Centre for Language Revitalisation.

Dr. Dean Mahuta Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer

Dr Mahuta is from the Waikato Tribe on the northern banks of the Waikato River in the North Island of New Zealand. He recently graduated with his doctorate in Māori Development on the identity connection of the Waikato people and the Waikato river.  His thesis was written completely in the Māori language. Dr Mahuta was the first person to complete his PhD in Māori at AUT.  Dr Mahuta is a graduate of Kura Kaupapa and Wharekura, which are the Māori language immersion schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand.  He is also one of the first three graduates of Māori immersion schools to be awarded with his doctorate.  Dr Mahuta is now a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama and a postdoctoral fellow in Te Ipukarea and the International Centre for Language Revitalisation.

Wahineata Smith Research Assistant

Wahineata is from Ngāti Ranginui and Waikato.  She is in her first year of her doctoral thesis and is also a research assistant on several of the Te Ipukarea projects.

Sandy Hata Administrative Assistant and Lecturer

Sandy is from Te Tāwera of Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Rangitihi. She joined the team in Te Ipukarea as an administrative assistant and also as a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama, AUT.  Sandy recently graduated with her Masters of Arts (MA) in Māori Development.  She wrote her MA thesis in te reo Māori, with the focus being on the sustainability and development of the language within a hapū (sub-tribe) context.   Sandy is currently embarking on her PhD journey.  Her PhD topic continues to use waiata (Māori song) as a vehicle and seeks to explore the language within various genres of waiata and its relevance to modern language expression.

Gretchen Wietmarschen Research Assistant

Gretchen is the first International PhD student to be welcomed by Te Ara Poutama – The Faculty of Māori Development at AUT.  She is a recipient of the University’s Vice-Chancellor Doctorial Scholarship.  Her research focus is the use of intergenerational language transfer, as a tool of language revitalisation efforts, in the formal education classroom.  She holds a BA in Geography from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA and an MA in International Educational Development from Columbia University in New York City.

Other National Māori Ventures Funded by TEC

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the New Zealand Māori Centre of Research Excellence, is a national centre for academic research from a Māori perspective. It is funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and is based at the University of Auckland. It delivers three key programmes in research, capability building and knowledge exchange. Founding members of the centre are the Universities of Auckland, Otago, Victoria and Waikato, the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Manaaki Whenua, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiarangi and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. www.maramatanga.co.nz

Manu Ao

Manu Ao is a Māori academic networking initiative, supported by Te Kāhui Amokura (a Māori Standing Committee of the NZ Vice-Chancellors Committee), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC)  in association with all eight New Zealand Universities.

Its three main objectives are to:

• Advance Māori Scholarship
• Strengthen links between Māori Academics and Māori Professionals
• Accelerating Māori academic and professional leadership

Part of their work is the delivery of seminars through the KAREN network between the universities. www.manu-ao.ac.nz

VO2                              

VO2 is a web design company focused on achieving online solutions that get results.  They are based in Hamilton, New Zealand, offering web design, web development, ecommerce, search engine optimisation, iPhone apps, mobile marketing & sms text messaging and other web-based services.

VO2 do not believe in “one-size fits all” websites, or mass produced templates.  Their focus is to take a personal approach, building websites that are unique and tailored to client requirements.  They work together with their clients to ensure that the client is happy and that VO2 have created a website they are proud to put their names to.
www.vo2.co.nz

Māori Television

New Zealand’s national indigenous broadcaster, Māori Television was established in May 2003, and was set up as one of a number of important initiatives to promote and revitalise the Māori language. The aim of the channel is to play a major role in revitalising language and culture that is the birthright of every Māori and the heritage of every New Zealander.

The following values are what underpinned the wairua of Māori Television:   

• Kia tika. Be professional and maintain high standards                                                                                      
• Kia pono. Be truthful, honest and act with integrity
• Kia aroha. Be respectful and demonstrate empathy
• Kia Māori. Maintain and uphold core Māori values

Their mission is to make significant contribution to the revitalisation of tikanga Māori and reo Māori by seing an independant, secure and succesful Māori television broadcaster. The vision is for Māori Television to become a world-class indigenous broadcaster.

Tune in to Māori Television on Sky channel 19 and Te Reo on Sky channel 59, and also on Freeview channels 5 and 24.

 

www.maoritelevision.com