Māori language stalwarts and Tūhoe descendants Tā Pou Temara and Te Ripowai Higgins have received honorary doctorates from Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University today.
Both Temara and Higgins are both former students and tutors of the university and were recognised on the day of the opening of the new living pā.
In his speech of acknowledgement, Temara reflected fondly on the life both he and his relation Higgins had within their iwi of Ngāi Tūhoe.
“Our parents, grandparents, elders always had inspirations for us to be well educated and to explore the world beyond the mountains and hills of Te Urewera,” he said.
“We are so lucky to have grown up surrounded by some of the most esteemed and well-known knowledge keepers of our time.”
Tutoring side by side at Victoria University of Wellington in the 1980s through to the 2000s, Higgins and Temara were widely regarded as the caretakers of the Te Herenga Waka Marae on campus.
Temara was brought into the role of tohunga of the marae, during its establishment in 1986.
He spoke on the dream of a marae, which both he and Higgins had during their time as students while sympathising with his relations of the Tūhoe ki Pōneke (Tūhoe living in Wellington) group.
“We had aspirations to have a place of our own here in Wellington and I even composed a haka about it to challenge our iwi authority to help with funding for a space for us here in Wellington. Particularly as we had five generations of Tūhoe who had lived away from our tribal homelands and Wellington was now this new generation’s home.”
Higgins retired from her position within the university in 2016 while Temara continues to tutor at Waikato University, both remaining revered Māori language exponents.
Temara said the honorary doctorate was a great honour.
“My tuahine and I are honoured to receive recognition from this institution, our alma mater, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. We congratulate the university in recognising the distinctiveness of this marae, not only in adopting its name for the university but for what this place represents as a connector of people, of knowledge systems, of opportunities to imagine a better future.”
