Ranginui Walker

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

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

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. "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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