Tauranga Maori academics honoured for achievement

By Carly Udy
Two Tauranga Maori academics will receive recognition for their achievements at the 2007 National Maori Academic Excellence Awards, being held at Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia today.
Dr Riri Ellis and Dr Des Kahotea are two of only three Maori in the Tauranga Moana area to achieve a doctorate. Professor Patricia Johnston is the third.
Dr Kahotea, 55, received his PhD from the University of Waikato in 2005. He studied historical anthropology based on land claim research, for reports he did for recent Waitangi Tribunal hearings on the Tauranga Land confiscation.
He is currently a research fellow at Victoria University, having received a post-doctoral research grant.
The former Tauranga Boys' College student said his academic career was only just beginning.
"This is only the start for me, I have another 10 years to make a dent in the research and academic world," he said.
Dr Kahotea said the recent issue of Maori under-achievement, highlighted by the media, showed not much had changed since he was at high school.
"In the 1960s if one did not like school there were jobs for 15-year-olds, now there is no work but it seems attitudes to schooling still remain the same, they want to leave as soon as they can," he said.
"There is a lot of academic achievement and success occurring with the Maori middle class, but if one is brown and not middle-class these people make up the non-achievers list."
His motivation had been the "intellectual development and advancement" that came with PhD study and achievement, and access to research funds to promote Maori knowledge and expertise.
Fellow Waikato University graduate, Dr Riri Ellis, a former Tauranga Girls' College student, celebrated achieving her PhD on her home marae in Matapihi last November.
"It's wonderful to have my work acknowledged," said Dr Ellis, who completed her doctoral studies at the University of Waikato management school.
"I'm pleased and humbled to be part of a bigger academic endeavour to get more Maori through their PhDs."
It took Dr Ellis, 36, six years to finish her doctoral thesis on marketing in Maori health promotion and practices.
She is a project manager for the Ngaiterangi Iwi Runanga, and is involved in strategising for settlement of the Treaty of Waitangi claims. She also works on issues relating to te reo (language) and housing for the iwi.
Dr Ellis and Dr Kahotea are among 41 recipients from six universities to be presented with academic excellence awards marking conferment of their doctoral qualifications.