March 30, 2023
Honorary doctorate for Te Rauparaha scholar
The University of Canterbury is to grant an honorary doctorate next week to one of the country’s leading Māori history scholars in recognition for his work revitalising te reo Māori as a researcher, translator, writer and editor.
Ross Calman from Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāi Tahu has authored more than a dozen works, including books on the Treaty of Waitangi and the New Zealand Wars, edited more than 100 books in te reo Māori and English, translated a number of books into te reo Māori, and written numerous articles and chapters on Māori history and traditional Māori society.
One of his most well-known books is He Pukapuka Tātaku i ngā Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui – A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha, published by Auckland University Press in 2020.
Calman says the book was a pinnacle in his career as it allowed him to explain his ancestor in historical context and provide more information for people trying to interpret these events today.
He says when he enrolled at the University of Canterbury in 1990 to do a degree in English he had only a superficial understanding of his whakapapa and very little te reo Māori.
Finding a bound photocopy in the university library of a manuscript about the Ngāti Toa leader written in te reo Māori by his son Tāmihana Te Rauparaha set off his quest to learn te reo Māori.
UC Ngāi Tahu Centre pou whakarae Te Maire Tau, says over the past two decades Calman has become a pre-eminent researcher, editor and translator who has enriched New Zealanders’ understanding of the Māori past.
He says Calman’s career is all the more remarkable given that he only had a superficial understanding of te ao Māori when he first came to UC.
“However, in collaboration with his wife, Ariana Tikao, who is also Ngāi Tahu and prominent in related disciplines, Ross is now a leading scholar in the field of Māori history,” he says.