March 25, 2024
Māori Battalion awards boost Māori scholars
Historian Monty Soutar has been presented with the prestigious Manakura Award as part of this year’s Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion scholarship ceremony held at the C Company Memorial House in Gisborne.
The tohu is only presented every three years to exceptional individuals, and last went to the late Tā Wira Gardiner in 2021.
Dr Soutar has written extensively about the Māori Battalion including three books, Nga Tamatoa: The Price of Citizenship. C Company 28 Māori Battalion 1939–1945. Published 2008 and Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E! Maori in the First World War.
Rotorus Girl’s High School deputy principal Aramoana Mohi-Maxwell, who is working on a PhD at the University of Canterbury on the contribution of the Mokoia Taiaha Wānanga to cultural resilience, won the doctoral scholarship.
Master’s scholarships went to Miria Haora, Ashton Thrupp, Jade Davis and Melba Pakinga, and undergraduate scholarships went to Maraea Coleman, Te Atamihi Papa, Pounamu Wharehinga and Heremia McGarvey.
For the first time this year there’s also a competition open for Māori learners in Years 7 to 13 to compose a waiata related to the Maori Battalion.
Entries will open next month.
The Ngarimu VC and 28th Māori Battalion Memorial Scholarships recognise the outstanding achievements of ākonga
The scholarships were established in 1945 to assist Māori achievers to succeed in education and to contribute as leaders in New Zealand and overseas.