June 06, 2022
Māori renaissance scholar Patu Hohepa knighted
A scholar once described in Parliament as an extremist Maori nationalist has been made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours List.
Dr Patrick Wahanga ’Patu’ Hohepa from Te Mahurehure and Ngapuhi was one of the first Maori to receive a doctorate, based on his study of linguistics at Indiana University in the United States.
On his return to New Zealand he was a professor of Maori language at the University of Auckland and a renowned teacher and scholar of te reo Māori and other Pacific languages.
A leader of the Maori renaissance, he was the first to advocate for a marae at the university.
In a move that was seen as unusual at the time, Dr Hohepa was appointed as an advisor to then-Maori Affairs Minister Matiu Rata in the Kirk Labour Government from 1972 to 1975.
In that position he was able to add academic weight and rigor to some of the reforms being advanced by his minister, including the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal and significant changes to the Maori Affairs Act.
In the 1980s, as Maori became increasingly vocal about the failure to honour the Treaty of Waitangi and the denial of their rights, he was among “radical nationalist Maoris” listed by former Police Red Squad leader Ross Meurant in his maiden speech to Parliament – a list that now serves as an honours list in its own right.
It didn’t stop Dr Hohepa being appointed Maori Language Commissioner from 1997 to 2007, which he described as “a part-time position that demands full-time commitment”.
He also served as a member of Te Waka Toi, the Māori Board of Creative New Zealand, and as a member of Haerewa, Auckland Art Gallery’s Māori cultural advisory group.