Ranginui Walker

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Ranginui Walker

DCNZM
BornRanginui Joseph Isaac Walker
(1932-03-01)1 March 1932
Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Died29 February 2016(2016-02-29) (aged 83)
Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Notable awardsPrime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement

Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker DCNZM (1 March 1932 – 29 February 2016) was a New Zealand academic and writer of Māori and Lebanese descent.[1]

Early life[]

Walker was born in 1932 into a farming family. He was a member of the Whakatōhea tribe of Ōpōtiki in the Bay of Plenty.[2]

Walker attended St Peter's Maori College, Auckland, Auckland Teachers' Training College and the University of Auckland. He worked as a primary school teacher for 10 years.[2]

Career and activism[]

Walker was a member of Māori activist group Ngā Tamatoa and Secretary of the Auckland District Māori Council from 1969 to 1973 and chairman from 1974 to 1990.[2]

He eventually became the Professor and Head of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland.[3]

In 2003, Walker became a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.[4] He held a strong belief in Maori Identity, and had stated that William Hobson's declaration that "He iwi tahi tātou", meaning "We are now one people", in the Treaty of Waitangi, was a cultural attack on the indigenous people of New Zealand.[5]

Awards and honours[]

In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Walker was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori.[6] When the New Zealand government restored titular honours in 2009, he declined redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[7]

In 2009, Walker received a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement[8]

Following Walker's death in 2016, Prime Minister John Key said Walker was "not only an insightful commentator on important historical and contemporary issues but was a tireless and passionate advocate for Maori".[2]

Published Works[]

Walker published a number of books, including:

  • Perceptions and Attitudes of the New Generation of Maoris to Pakeha Domination (1981)
  • History of Maori Activism (1983)
  • The Treaty of Waitangi (1983)
  • The Political Development of the Maori People in New Zealand (1984)
  • The Meaning of Biculturalism (1986)
  • Nga Mamae o te Iwi Maori: Te Ripoata o te Hui i Turangawaewae (1987)
  • Nga Tau Tohetohe The Years of Anger (1987)
  • Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou / Struggle Without End (1990) Second Edition (2004)
  • Liberating Maori from Educational Subjection (1991)
  • Nga Pepa a Ranginui The Walker Papers (1997)
  • He Tipua The Life and Times of Sir Apirana Ngata (2001)
  • Opotiki-Mai-Tawhiti Capital of Whakatohea (2007)

Notes[]

  1. ^ Wanhalla, Angela (5 May 2011). "Ranginui Walker's whānau". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Academic and commentator Ranginui Walker dies, aged 83". Stuff.co.nz. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. ^ "WALKER, Ranginui", New Zealand Book Council official website. Retrieved Sept, 29, 2006
  4. ^ "Professor Ranginui Walker", Waitangi Tribunal official website (Retrieved 17 July 2012)
  5. ^ Ranginui Walker (10 August 2019). "Ranginui Walker: On being a Māori". New Zealand Listener.
  6. ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2001. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  7. ^ Theunissen, Matt (10 August 2009). "Sir Sam 'too grand by far', Neill says". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Previous winners". Creative New Zealand. Retrieved 24 October 2013.

Sources[]

  • Margie Thomson, "Bridging the Gap", Dominion Post, 9 May 2009, "Your Weekend", p. 10.
  • Paul Spoonley, Mata Toa: The Life and Times of Ranginui Walker, Penguin, Auckland 2009.
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