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March 03, 2016
HE MAIMAI AROHA – DR RANGINUI WALKER (1932 – 2016)
Waatea Team
Posted On March 3, 2016
HE MAIMAI AROHA – DR RANGINUI WALKER (1932 – 2016)
The following media releases are from different organisations and groups with their tribute to Dr Ranginui Walker
Kia hiwa ra! Kia Hiwa ra!
Kua hinga he totara teitei i te wao nui ā Tāne.
Ko Ranginui Walker terā.
Takoto mai e kara i te takotoranga o nga mātua tūpuna.
Tenei mātou o te Whare Wānanga O Tāmaki te tangi kau ake.
Haere, haere, haere ra.
It is with great regret that we announce the passing of Dr Ranginui Walker. Rangi passed away last evening surrounded by his whānau. Our deepest sympathy and aroha are extended to Deidre, Michael and the whānau pani. While we mourn we also reflect on Rangi's significant contribution to Māori and the nation, and know that this is and will be recognised and celebrated in the days and years to come.
The loss of Ranginui from our midst will be so very strongly felt. For many of us his intellectual labour provided the foundation for our work.
He gave energy to our politics and a critique that demanded a response. His careful analysis of the condition of Māori and clear identification of the causes were deemed radical when he first pronounced them and yet they have informed the work of the nation and shaped our present political landscape. His acuteness of thought and word remained with him until the end. His was a life of service to Māori.
At a personal level he was a man of great generosity and kindness. Deidre and Rangi opened up their homes and their lives to many of us. While he would often send emails with short, clear directions for actions he wished me to undertake he would also give his time, support and advice willingly. His work is written in my heart.
Moe mai ra e te Rangatira
Tracey McIntosh
TE WHARE WANANGA O TAMAKI
The University of Auckland is saddened by the death of Emeritus Professor Dr Ranginui Walker who died at the age of 83.
Dr Walker was one of New Zealand’s most influential Māori academics. He studied at the University, gaining a Diploma of Teaching in 1962, a Bachelor of Arts in 1962 and a Master of Arts in 1966.
Professor Walker was considered one of Maoridom’s most influential academic leaders and advocates for Māori rights and social justice.
Dr Walker was born on 1 March 1932 into a farming family belonging to the Whakatohea iwi of Opotiki.
He was educated at St Peter's Māori College in Auckland and trained first as a primary school teacher, working in that profession for 10 years.
In 1967 he took up a temporary lectureship in the Anthropology Department at the University where he completed his PhD in 1970.
He then served at the Centre for Continuing Education at Auckland for 15 years. During this time, he published numerous papers on Māori education and organised several Māori leadership conferences on urbanisation, gangs, Māori land, Māori fisheries, Māori educational development, and Māori representation in Parliament.
He was also a member of the National Advisory Committee on Māori Education (NACME) from 1980 to 1984 and was a member of the National and District Maori Council.
Dr Walker was appointed associate professor of Māori studies in the Anthropology Department at Auckland University in 1986. He served as professor of Māori Studies from 1993 to 1997 and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Māori) from 1996-1997.
Besides his numerous papers and chapters in books, Dr Walker published six books: Nga Tau Tohetohe: The Years of Anger (1987), Ka Whawahi Tonu Matou: Struggle without End (1990), Nga Pepa a Ranginui: The Walker Papers (1997), He Tipua: The Life and Times of Sir Apirana Ngata (2001), Opotiki Mai Tawhiti (2007), and Paki Harrison: Tohunnga Whakairo. The story of a master carver (2008).
Dr Walker was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 New Year honours list, and in 2007 he was awarded the Te Tohu o te Maramatanga research excellence award, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga (CORE) University of Auckland. In 2009, Professor Walker was awarded a Prime Minister's Literary Award and in 2012 he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland.
Dr Walker was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2003.
The University made Dr Walker a Distinguished Alumni in 2012.
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon says Dr Walker continued to serve the University in many ways. He chaired review panels, he supported and advised staff and remained keenly interested in the affairs of the University.
“We mourn the loss of a distinguished Māori academic and longstanding member of the University. The University sends their deepest condolences to his wife Deidre, son Professor Michael Walker and whānau pani.”
The University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Māori), Jim Peters, said Dr Walker was a lead thinker in the development of Māori consciousness in the Twentieth Century.
“He generously shared his knowledge with all. He was very aware of the need for whanau and intergenerational achievement and sought to place Māori within the social and environmental future of Aotearoa.”
Associate Professor Tracey McIntosh of the University’s Centre of Research Excellence Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga, said herself and Dr Walker’s other colleagues were in deep mourning.
“The shock of it this morning was profound. His intellectual labour has provided for so many of us the foundation of our work.”
Dr McIntosh said Dr Walker spoke to many audiences through his academic research and his columns in Metro and the Listener magazines that “added his distinctive voice to the nation.”
Dr McIntosh said Dr Walker was not a fan of “gilding the lily.”
“This was a man who was shy by nature but was driven by the need to ensure there was justice and understanding.”
UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND
Condolences for Dr Ranginui Walker
The Green Party offers its condolences for the passing of Dr Ranginui Walker of Te Whakatōhea.
“Dr Walker was held in huge esteem throughout New Zealand and by many of us in the Green Party,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.
“I have been on many panels with Ranginui and he has always been open to a fiery debate. He was incredibly well informed, highly opinionated, and always willing to have an open conversation.
“As a Māori activist lawyer, then politician, I have always had a lot to learn from listening and watching kaumātua like Ranginui Walker. The Green Party and I will miss him.
“Dr Walker wrote that the quest for a fair partnership under the Treaty was ‘struggle without end’. Despite his passing, his work in helping to bring new generations together in a better understanding of that partnership endures,” Mrs Turei said.
THE GREEN PARTY NZ
MAORIDOM LOSES STRONG ADVOCATE, SAYS NZ FIRST
With the passing of Dr Ranginui Walker, Maoridom has lost a strong advocate and a highly respected academic, says New Zealand First.
“He was one who recognised the importance of education and was not just a proud Māori, but also a proud New Zealander,” New Zealand First Leader and Northland Member of Parliament Rt Hon Winston Peters says.
“He will be missed by his family and all who knew him personally, and by the nation to which he contributed so much.
“We offer his family our condolences.”
NEW ZEALAND FIRST
Kelvin Davis
Leader of the Maori Caucus
29 February 2016 MEDIA STATEMENT
Labour mourns the loss of Dr Ranginui Walker
Ko te papa e hora nei kua tarehua. E mihi ana ki te whenua e tangi ana ki te tangata. He tai papaki ki waho o Rehua, he tai mihinga tangata, he tai mate hoki. E te tohunga o te whakaiti. E te Ahorangi o te matauranga kua maunu to waka. Kua papā te kakau o to hoe ki te hīpapa o to waka tīwaiwai nō reira haere atu rā koe ki Hawaiki I whakataukitia ai e o tātou tūpuna. Nō reira haere e te kawa tūnuku, tūrangi, tūpapa I tu ai a Tane.
The Labour Party Maori Caucus joins the country in expressing our great sadness at the loss of esteemed Māori leader and academic Dr Ranginui Walker and our sympathies to his family.
“His contribution to academia, education and politics has been without peer and stands as a truly great New Zealander. In almost all debates on the future of Maori, he has been a towering voice,” said Kelvin Davis, Leader of Labour’s Maori Caucus.
“As a member of New Zealand Māori Council and in his many other roles Dr Walker fought tirelessly for Maori for decades.
“All of us in Labour will mourn his passing and his leadership will inspire another generation to step up and fill the hole he has left.
“He was a leader, a thinker and a figher. He was also humble in his service. That’s how he should be remembered,” said Kelvin Davis.
LABOUR PARTY – MAORI CAUCUS
MEDIA RELEASE 29 February 2016
NGAPUHI HAPU MOURNS INSPIRATIONAL RANGATIRA
Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu Ngapuhi offers its condolences on the passing of inspirational rangatira Dr Ranginui Walker of Te Whakatohea.
Te Kotahitanga adds its voice to those who remember one of Maoridom’s finest.
Co-chair Rudy Taylor says Dr Walker will be deeply missed. He was a man of mana, he truly embraced what it is to be a rangatira not just for our people but all New Zealanders.
“Ranginui’s knowledge and questioning of what he called our one sided history was instrumental in the Waitangi Tribunal’s finding that Ngapuhi did not cede sovereignty. For that Ngapuhi owes him our thanks.
“As another great leader the late Sir James Henare said, we have gone too far not to go further and we have done too much not to do more.”
Co-chair Pita Tipene says in the current hearings in the Ngapuhi – Te Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry – which is ongoing, his presence and thirst for understanding Ngapuhi history, understanding our past grievances will be sorely missed.
“We are saddened by the loss of this esteemed academic, an inspirational leader who the people of Ngapuhi loved and respected. A giant totara has fallen in the forest and the reverberations will be felt by all.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his whanau at this sad time.”
Moe mai ra e te rangatira, moe mai, moe mai.
TE KOTAHITANGA O NGA HAPU NGAPUHI
Poroporoaki: Dr Ranginui Walker (1932-2016)
E te rangatira, e te reo o ngā tīpuna, e te kaiārahi o ngā uri whakatipu: takoto mai, takoto mai, takoto mai rā! Hoea rā tō waka ki Hawaiki nui, Hawaiki roa, Hawaiki pāmaomao, moe mai rā.
The Māori Party today mourns a great statesman, a distinguished scholar, an inspirational mentor and a champion of the people in the sad passing of Professor Ranginui Walker.
“Matua Ranginui was a stalwart of ideas; his academic knowledge drove him to be vigilant in his pursuit of solutions,” says Māori Party Co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, former student of Dr Walker’s at Auckland University.
“He loved nothing more than posing challenging questions, inviting us to take up the inquiry into any sources of injustice we may encounter in our study and our lives.
“He had a significant influence on the course of my life and I, along with thousands of others, are indebted to him for his rigorous advocacy of Māori rights.”
He was a historian, a biographer and a prolific writer on contemporary Māori issues.
Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox says, “Perhaps this great man’s most impressive contribution to nationhood, has been in the challenge summarised so aptly in his work, “Ka Whawhai tonu mātou; Struggle Without End”.
“Almost three decades have passed since that masterful work; his stories, his strategies, his courage has provided us for a strong basis for moving forward as a nation, to keep the struggle uppermost in our hearts and minds,” she says.
He was also a regular media commentator on Māori issues and never shied away from a well-argued controversy.
“Many of us, both Māori and Pākehā, have grown up listening to his articulate view of the injustices Māori have suffered since colonisation and his proposed remedies. Because of his depth of knowledge and his gentle manner, it was hard to argue with his uncompromising stance,” says Mrs Fox.
Mrs Fox had the privilege of meeting Dr Walker when he was hearing the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Waitangi claim as a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.
“He is one of those people that leaves an indelible imprint on your memory. He encouraged me to continue to be outspoken on Māori issues,” she says.
The Māori Party extends our aroha to his wife Deirdre, his whānau pani and to Te Whakatōhea who will all be mourning the loss of a loved family man and treasured descendant.
THE MAORI PARTY
Ka tanuku ka tanuku
Te tihi o Makeo ka tanuku
Maturuturu noa te wai o aku kamo
Kotiritiri noa kotarara noa
Aue, te pane kotutitui, te pane koruturutu
E huri Ranginui tau atu ra
Ki tara wiwi, ki tara wawa
Tēnei te Kāhui Amokura e tangi nei
Tēnei Te Pōkai Tara e aue nei
Moe mai e Ra, waiho mai ra o tapuwae
Hei tauira whakapiki i ēnei ka mahue nei.
The Vice-Chancellors and the Māori Pro Vice Chancellors of New Zealand's eight universities collectively express our sincere sympathy at the passing and loss of Dr. Ranginui Walker.
Our condolences to his immediate family, to Ngāti Whakatōhea and to Mātaatua waka.
This is a loss to the whole of the nation, and to the academic world.
Ranginui has been a pou turangi, a bastion for the advancement of Māori scholarship, and the contribution of Māori indigenous knowledge to the nation’s intellectual treasury.
We are saddened by his death, but comforted by his legacy.
Naia te mihi maioha te tuku atu nei.
He pou turangi ki te whenua
He pukainga matauranga ki te tahuhu.
Nā maua
Professor Harlene Hayne, Chair of Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara and Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Chair of Te Kāhui Amokura
TE POKAI TARA
Māori Language Commission
Tuesday 1 March 2016
Dr Walker’s gift of the Māori language to the nation
“Te reo Māori is heard and seen in public because of the tireless work of people like Dr Ranginui Walker.”
That is just one of the great legacies the esteemed Māori academic has left behind for Aotearoa New Zealand, said Ngahiwi Apanui, chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori.
“Dr Walker was practicing and advocating Māori language revitalisation in the 1970s, before the concept was even called that. Before we had a Māori channel to watch, iwi radio stations to listen to and kura to send our children to.
“In a time when the Government didn’t think our language had mana, he and others reminded them that it did and that led to the creation of the Māori Language Act which in turn led to te reo Māori being made an official language in this country.”
With that status, Māori throughout the country were able to start their journey of revitalising the language through establishing kōhanga reo, kura, wānanga, Māori TV and iwi radio stations, said Mr Apanui.
“Even the commission can trace our whakapapa back to his work.”
Mr Apanui said while the voice of the extraordinary Māori rights advocate can no longer be heard, the challenges he laid down to the nation many years ago are just as relevant today.
“Many people think the debate around teaching te reo in schools is a new one but it actually goes back to 1972 when Ngā Tamatoa and Dr Walker were advocating for it to be taught in our education system.”
Mr Apanui said Dr Walker’s work across Māori rights was so profound that it would have benefits for generations to come.
“The commission’s vision is to hear the landscape of Aotearoa resonate with our indigenous language. And that was very much what Dr Walker wanted too.”
Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori send their thoughts and love to Dr Walker’s wife Deirdre and whānau and his people of Te Whakatōhea.
TE TAURA WHIRI I TE REO MAORI
'E kapo ki te whetū, e kapo ki te marama,
e kapo ki te ata o tō raukura, ka riro ki paerau ki tō te huinga o te kahurangi ka oti atu koutou e.’
E te tōtara haemata o te wao, e te kākā tarahae o te motu,
e te manu hononga o te pae e te Ahorangi e Ranginui,
kua tānuku te tihi o Tauwhare o Rangitoto,
e ka tānuku koā te toka i te moana i te tokatū moana
a ki ngā tai ki ngā ngaru, ā ki ngā hau,
haere, haere, haere atu rā.
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of 83 year old Dr Ranginui Walker.
A fearless advocate of Māori rights and the Treaty of Waitangi he challenged the status quo with clear and critical thinking.
He made Pākeha New Zealanders question themselves, their attitudes, their institutions and the government. But he also made Māori question their own acceptance and compliance with institutional racism.
From Whakatohea Ranginui Walker was an educator, a historian and a social commentator. His column in the NZ Listener were later published as part of the book Ka Whaiwhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End. This book should be required reading for all New Zealanders.
He was secretary and later chairman of the Auckland District Māori Council. In 2003 he was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal.
The Nga Tamatoa movement grew out of a young Māori leaders conference he organised.
In 2001, Ranginui Walker was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
He remained a commentator and keen critic throughout his life giving of his time freely, particularly to Māori reporters, providing insight and commentary on issues, events and politics which impacted on Māori society.
Moe mai e te Rangatira. Okioki i roto i te rangimarie.
NGA AHO WHAKAARI
CAFCA joins with all those paying tribute to Ranginui Walker (uniquely, we find ourselves in company with John Key in so doing).
This is not an obituary; that will follow in Watchdog later this year.
We were proud to have had Ranginui as a CAFCA member continuously from 1993 until his death this week. He was a generous one too, more often than not (including in 2015) adding a sizeable donation.
From 1996 until this January he was a regular sizeable donor to the CAFCA/ABC Organiser Account which provides my income.
In addition to that, he was a Roger Award judge for two consecutive years (2002 & 03. For the record, 2002 was one of several years the Award was won by the late unlamented Tranz Rail; in 2003 it was Juken Nissho)
The only time I ever met Ranginui was at the (2003) Auckland event for the 2002 Roger Award. But what more CAFCAesque setting could there be than a Roger Award event for such a meeting?
Here is a brief extract from my 2002 Organiser’s Report to give just a little hint of the enormous fun that was had that (very wet) Auckland night:” …Michele A’Court, actor and comedian, did an excellent job as the MC. She got a laugh from the Aucklanders by saying that Sukhi Turner, one of the Award judges and Mayor of Dunedin, couldn’t be there because it wasn’t cold enough (never mind, it was wet enough, inside and out – the building leaked, it really was an Auckland leaky building). Following a Maori welcome (a first for the Roger event), the wonderfully named Rectify The Anomaly bush band (that name would be perfect for a Viagra ad), including event organisers, George Baxter and Jim Gladwin, got the evening off to a ripsnorting start. Some of the singing was exquisitely beautiful, bringing tears to the eyes; other songs directed popular wrath at Big Business.
“The evening also featured two performances. The GE Free Street Theatre did a splendid skit (in honour of Novartis being one of the finalists). My favourite character was the villainous capitalist whose one line, oft repeated, was ‘Ha, ha, ha, I’m so evil’. He was too, the bastard. And the Cell Collective specially produced a wonderful video for the evening, giving the finalists a unique, cinematic, once over not so lightly. Nobody who saw it will ever forget the Carter Holt Harvey character literally talking shit.
“I spoke, on behalf of the Award organisers. It seemed to be well received, although a number in the audience seemed to have gone into shock at seeing me sans hair and beard for the first time ever (I struggled to recognise myself at first, too). John Minto, one of the judges, delivered the verdict with all the moral zeal of the lapsed Catholic. I’m sure Judge John was the Inquisitor General in a past life. He said that most award ceremonies start at the bottom and work to the top. ‘But the Roger Award starts at the bottom and works down’. He referred to the finalists as ‘scumbags’ and to Fay Richwhite (who did rather nicely out of their purchase and sale of Tranz Rail) as ‘boils on the backside of humanity’. It’s the second consecutive year that John has performed this task and he’s a natural at it (Ranginui Walker, the other Auckland judge, was present – because he was wearing a cap, Michele A’Court apologised for mistaking him for Tiger Woods. Emphasis added). This was the sixth Roger Award event and they just keep on getting stronger. We must be doing something right”.
Thanks Ranginui for being part of CAFCA, along with everything else for which you are much better known and so rightly acclaimed.
Murray Horton
CAFCA
He Aitua: Dr Ranginui Walker
We are in mourning.
Ranginui Walker, the radical activist and academic who dedicated his life to political struggle, died on Tuesday at age 83. He leaves behind his wife Deidre, their three children and a legacy of political struggle that extends back more than four decades.
In many ways, Ranginui Walker was the ideal trade unionist, despite never taking a formal role in the movement. He was confrontational but strategic, he knew analysis must always be coupled with action, and he maintained a fierce commitment to social justice.
Although he remains best known for his ground breaking work in Maori history and Maori politics – and rightly so – Ranginui Walker was also a fierce advocate for workers’ rights. He was an ally in every sense, nearly always willing to offer solidarity to workers, and an inspiration for Maori trade unionists.
Along with other giants of the time like Maori activist and trade union leader Syd Jackson, Ranginui helped ensure that the trade union movement’s role in Maori struggles like the occupation of Bastion Point were never forgotten. (When the government removed the protestors from Orakei after their 500-day occupation, union members across Auckland went on a wildcat strike in solidarity and refused to build or work on Bastion Point without iwi approval).
Ranginui Walker was a witness to, participant in and analyst of these epic struggles, always condemning power when it accumulated in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. “I have no time for privileged people who take advantage of their privileged position to attack the weakest people in our society,” he once said.
For this reason, he was often the establishment’s public enemy number one. When he released Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End, he was viciously condemned by Pakeha who could not handle the hard truths from New Zealand history. That is, those who would not accept that the inequality between Maori and Pakeha is engineered.
Yet in the end it was Ranginui who was vindicated. He went from public enemy number one in the 1980s and 1990s to a nominee for New Zealander of the year in 2015. That’s a vindication of his work. That’s an acknowledgement that he was a national treasure, someone who helped recover our history and take forward our struggles.
We are in mourning together.
FIRST Union President Syd Keepa.
FIRST UNION
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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