Associate Professor Hirini Melbourne, a Maori author, musician and academic, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. He was 53.
Professor Melbourne was dean of the School of Maori and Pacific Development at the University of Waikato.
He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in theNew Year's Honours for services to Maori language, music and culture.
Of Tuhoe descent, he was a member of the Maori activist organisation Nga Tamatoa during the 1970s while an Auckland University student. The group petitioned the Government to have the Maori language taught in schools.
Professor Melbourne toured the country regularly, performing his compositions and talking about traditional Maori instruments he had found. He used traditional instruments in the soundtracks to the films Mauri and Once Were Warriors.
