Te Pouhere Taonga has named Puawai Cairns, Tom Roa, and Ruth Smith as the new members of Te Kaunihera Māori o te Pouhere Taonga (Māori Heritage Council).
The new appointees will join Sir John Clarke (chairman), Chris Cochran, Materoa Dodd, Rebecca Mellish, Patrick McGarvey and Kim Ngarimu. The Māori Heritage Council aids Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga in developing and expressing a bicultural perspective. It represents Pouhere Taonga and Council's interests in matters relating to Māori heritage in any public or Māori forum.
Photo credit: Te Papa Tongarewa Museum
Puawai Cairns (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pukenga and Ngāi Te Rangi) is the director of audience and Insights at Te Papa Tongarewa and was previously the museum’s head of mātauranga Māori. Cairns will conjointly serve on the HNZPT board and the Māori Heritage Council.
Photo credit: Te Punaha Matatini, Waipapa Taumata Rau/University of Auckland
Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato) is a Tainui leader and Associate Professor in the University of Waikato’s Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies. Roa is skilled in Māori translation and interpretation and was a founder of the Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori movement.
Ruth Smith (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou and Rongowhakaata) is a translator and interpreter for Maioha Consulting and has an extensive career in translations. Smith has a background in education and media and has previously worked as a reporter and journalist for Māori Television.
Te Ao Marama spoke to Ruth Smith who expressed her gratitude in being selected for the role, "I’m really honoured to be a part of this Board and work alongside the likes of Heritage stalwarts such as Sir John Clarke. I know that I will be able to learn a lot from their knowledge and experiences and Hope harness this with my own in order to bring about the positive outcomes that our people need in this space. Ka nui taku harikoa me taku waimarie i taku nōhanga ki ngā tino taniwha o tēnei ao, arā ko te momo pēnei i a Tā Hone mā."
"Ko te taku tino wawata ko te whakarongo, ko te ako hoki i ngā wheako me nga mōhiotanga o te hunga nei, ka āpiti ai ko ōku ake e puta ai he hua ki ō tātau nei iwi. Holding on to our taonga tuku iho and perpetuating their significance to us and their stories is of the utmost importance to me and I think that it is another avenue that we can use to reclaim our reo, our tikanga, our ahurea so that it can flourish for future generations. Ko te tieki i ā tātau taonga tuku iho, ko ngā mātāpono, ko ngā kōrero kai roto i aua āhuatanga katoa, koia ko te matua ki ahau. Ki ahau nei, he ara anō tēnei e whānui ake ai te whakarauoratanga o tō tātau reo, o ā tātau tikanga me tō tātau ahurea, kia tipu, kia rea ai i ngā rā kai mua i te aroaro."
Outgoing members of the Māori Heritage Council include Paul White, who has served on the council since 2017, and Dame Naida Glavish, who has served the Board and council since 2011 before shifting to her standalone role on the council from 2017.
New appointments have also been made to the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board. New members are Katharine Watson of Christchurch, an archaeologist at Watson Archaeology who is completing her PhD at the University of Canterbury and James Blackburne of Gisborne, an architect with great experience in heritage restoration. He has been involved in a number of heritage restorations that include several marae.
