January 04, 2016
Ngai Tahu case study for Stirling scholar
Canterbury University’s Ngai Tahu Research Centre has celebrated the award of the first doctorate degree to come out of its ranks.
Dr Eruera Prendergast-Tarena, who has Ngai Tahu, Ngati Porou, and Te Whanau-a-Apanui whakapapa, completed his PhD through the university’s department of management, marketing and entrepreneurship with his research supported by a scholarship from the centre and a Fulbright/Nga Pae o te Maramatanga Indigenous Scholar Award.
His research investigated the corporate design of contemporary indigenous organisations.
His case studies included not only Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu but Kamehameha Schools of Hawai'i and the Sealaska Corporation of Alaska.
His principal supervisor, Associate Professor Venkataram Nilakant, says despite not having a management background Dr Prendergast-Tarena quickly mastered the complexities of organisation theory.
For the graduation, Dr Prendergast-Tarena wore the academic bonnet worn by his great grandfather Eruera Stirling when he received an honorary doctorate.
The bonnet had been given by the family at his tangi to writer and anthropologist, Dame Anne Salmond, who returned it for the occasion.
The Ngai Tahu Research Centre was established in 2011 as a joint initiative between Ngai Tahu and the University of Canterbury to lead indigenous scholarship and provide a centre for the intellectual capital and development of Ngai Tahu.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com