Dr Ihakara (Kara) Porutu Puketapu has died aged 89. Photo / Te Ao Māori News
Te Ātiawa kaumātua and Lower Hutt community leader Dr Ihakara (Kara) Porutu Puketapu has died aged 89.
Born and raised in Waiwhetū, Lower Hutt, he became dux and head prefect at Wellington Technical College.
After leaving school, Puketapu worked for government departments including Internal Affairs, Māori Affairs, Child Welfare and
Social Security.
After graduating from Victoria University and taking up a scholarship at the University of New Mexico in the US, where he studied cultural anthropology and doctoral research on “Pueblo: Indian Community Development”, he rose through the ranks of the civil service to become the secretary of Māori Affairs from 1977 to 1982.
During this time he influenced a new direction within the department, encouraging Māori development, particularly for Māori in urban areas. He established “kōkiri” units, notably in the Wellington region, to work directly with communities to support cultural and economic ambitions. One of those units led to the creation of the Kōhanga Reo movement, with the opening of the country’s first Kōhanga Reo at Wainuiomata in 1982.
