Honours for Maori leaders

Dr Hauata Palmer and Dr Kihi Ngatai receiving their honorary doctorates last week at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi. Photo/Supplied

Two men have been presented with honorary doctorates for their contribution to Maori welfare and interests.

Tauranga locals Hauta Palmer and Kihi Ngatai were presented with the honour at a service held at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi in Whakatane.

Ngai Te Rangi chairman Charlie Tawhiao said the men were equally deserving of their awards for their lifetime involvement in scholarship and leadership of Tauranga iwi.

Mr Tawhiao said Mr Ngatai's skills of te reo, tikanga and kawa emerged when he was at home on his marae. "Having been guided at a young age by his kuia and koroua he is known to be a prodigy of the traditional ways of learning and thinking, one of the very few left in Tauranga."

Mr Ngatai had spent most of his life in the Matapihi peninsula where his governance experience grew from converting the family dairy farm into a kiwifruit orchard; becoming the director of the Maori kiwifruit growers fraternity, Te Awanui Hukapak Limited, for several years.

Mr Ngatai is the Ngai Te Rangi trustee for the Mauao historic reserve and represents Ngai Te Rangi and Tauranga Moana in formal occasions regarding iwi matters.

He was awarded a Queen's Birthday Honour in 2006, a Ta Kingi Ihaka Toi Maori award in 2009, was the first chairman of Te Runanga o Ngai Te Rangi and is a Waitangi Tribunal member.

Mr Tawhiao said Hauata Palmer, of Ngai Te Rangi, was known as a man of the sea and the islands, particularly Matakana Island. "He served ... with Maori Affairs for several years before taking on more community-enriching roles for his people, including his hapu and iwi.

"He is well regarded for his scholarship, writing and critical analysis of situations in both worlds, Te Ao Maori and Te Ao Pakeha and can command attention whether he is talking in a Maori forum, or a general public event."

Mr Palmer was the chairman for Te Runanga o Ngai Te Rangi, for 11 years, where he ushered in the Maori Fisheries Settlement for Ngai Te Rangi and was heavily involved in the Mauao Historic Reserve legislation.

He is also involved with promoting the use of te reo in the community and wider forums such as Maori Television and Maori radio and was instrumental in assisting the establishment of Moana Am.

Mr Tawhiao said, like Mr Ngatai, Mr Palmer's skills shone when he was at home on Matakana Island.