Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku
Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku is a professor at the University of Waikato where she is co-leader of the Tangihanga Research Programme, which successfully bid for funding from three generous sources, the Health Research Council, the Marsden Fund, and Nga Pae o te Maramatanga. Ngahuia Te Awekotuku grew up in a family of Te Arawa (Ngati Whakaue) weavers, carvers and storytellers in Ohinemutu, Rotorua. In 1981, she gained her PhD, investigating The Socio-cultural Impact of Tourism on the Te Arawa People. A veteran cultural activist, she has published extensively on heritage issues, ta moko, ethics, gender and indigenous sexualities. Her books include He Tikanga Whakaaro : Research Ethics in the Maori Community (1991), Mana Wahine Maori – selected writings on Maori women’s art, culture and politics (1991), and she main-authored the Maori Book of the Decade, Mau Moko : the World of Maori Tattoo (2007). Her creative work includes two collections, Tahuri : Stories (1989),and Ruahine : Mythic Women (2003). She has worked in the museum and university sectors for over thirty years. Until July 2009, she chaired Te Waka Toi, the Maori Arts Board, after six years service on the Council of Creative New Zealand/Toi Aotearoa.
Ngāhuia main-authored the Maori Book of the Decade, Mau Moko : the World of Maori Tattoo (2007).