Ta Pou Temara

He mea whakatipu a Tā William Te Rangiua ‘Pou’ Temara KNZM (1948 te tau i whānau ai ia) e ōna kaumātua i te mātotorutanga o te reo Māori i Te Urewera kia waru tau rā anō tōna pakeke. Koia te wā i hoki ai rātau ki Ruatāhuna. He ahorangi tikanga ia i te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi i tēnei wā. I mua atu he ahorangi ia o te reo Māori, o ngā tikanga, me te kaupapa rapunga whakaaro i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. I mua i tāna mahi i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, i Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui ia (otirā te wāhi i whai tohu mātauranga ai ia), ā, i Awanuiārangi ia i mua o tōna haerenga ki Waikato. Ko ia hoki te mana ahurea o te whaikōrero, o te whakapapa me te karakia. Kua tū ia hei mema mō Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi mai i te tau 2008, hei mema mō Te Poari Tarahiti Māori o Tūhoe Waikaremoana, hei heamana mō Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe, ā, ko ia te heamana o Karanga Aotearoa, te mana whakahoki mai i ngā kōiwi Māori i tāwāhi. I whakawhiwhia ia ki Te Tohu Tā i te tau 2021. Ko ia hoki tētahi o te Tekau mā Rua a Kuīni Nga Wai Hono i te Po. He mea tā tāna pukapuka, Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau, e Auckland University Press i te tau 2023, ā, koia te toa o te tohu Te Mūrau o te Tuhi nā Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa.

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Sir William Te Rangiua ‘Pou’ Temara KNZM (born 1948) was raised by his grandparents in a Māori-language environment in Te Urewera until he was eight years old, when they moved back to Ruatāhuna. He is a professor of Māori Philosophy at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Previously he was a professor of reo and tikanga at the University of Waikato and taught at Victoria University of Wellington (where he also studied). He is a cultural authority on whaikōrero, tikanga and karakia. He has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal since 2008, a member of the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board and former chair of Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe within his iwi, Tūhoe, and is current chair of the Repatriation Advisory Panel at Te Papa. He sits on Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po’s ‘Council of Twelve’. He was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021. His book Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau, published by Auckland University Press, was honoured with the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Award – Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award, celebrating its contribution to te reo Māori and the stories of Tūhoe.ri and the stories of Tuhoe.