Bio

Ngahuia Te Awekotuku is a veteran cultural activist who grew up in a tribal family of traditional storytellers, weavers, and singers. Her undergraduate and masterate degrees were in English Literature, Art History and Anthropology. She completed her PhD in Psychology 1981; The Sociocultural Impact of Tourism on the Te Arawa People of Rotorua, New Zealand. She has written two collections of creative fiction, and many scholarly works published locally and internationally. Her work in the heritage sector has been as a curator, teacher, critic, lecturer, art-maker, and governor, serving on many boards over the decades. She is the principal author of the major award winning Mau Moko : the World of Maori Tattoo. She professes at the University of Waikato, where she currently co-leads a large research team on the Maori ways of death, grief, and dying.

Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

Iwi affiliations: Te Arawa, Tuhoe, Waikato

Tertiary Education:

1981 PhD in Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton. Dissertation: The Socio-Cultural Impact of Tourism on the Te Arawa People of Rotorua, New Zealand.

1975-1980 Research Intern/Joint Doctoral Intern, East West Center, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

1975 MA (Hons) in English, University of Auckland. Thesis Title: Dominant Motifs in the Fiction of Janet Frame.

1971 BA English & Art History, University of Auckland

Employment Record:

2004 – Current Professor of Research & Development, School of Maori & Pacific Development, Waikato University
2001-2004 Professor, Maori & Psychology Research Unit, University of Waikato. Recipient, with Waimarie Nikora, of a Marsden Fund Grant for the three year project, Ta Moko - Culture, Body Modification & the Psychology of Identity.
1999 - 2001 Professor of Maori Studies, Victoria University
1997 – 1999 Head of the School of Maori Studies, Victoria University
1987 - 1997 Senior Lecturer in Art History, University of Auckland
1984 - 1987 Curator of Ethnology, Waikato Museum of Art & History

Distinctions, Service and Honours:

December 2011 Prix litteraire etudiant, Association “Les Amis du Journal te U’i Mata” for Mau Moko : le monde du tatouage Maori.
January 2010 Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
December 2009-current Co-Principal, Marsden Fund/the Royal Society of New Zealand Apakura : the Maori way of death ($842.6K)
July 2009-July 2011 Co-Principal, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga Project Grant, Aitua : Death in a Changing Maori World. ($250K)
October 2008 NZ Government Delegate to the Thirteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, World Intellectual Property Organisation, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
August 2008 Head of Delegation, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Pacific Festival of Arts, Pagopago, American Samoa.
July 2008 Montana Book Award:Lifestyle and Contemporary Culture Category Winner for Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo.
February 2008 Head of Delegation to the Twelfth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, World Intellectual Property Organisation, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
May 2007 NZ Government Delegate to the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations High-Level Symposium on Interfaith Dialogue, Auckland.
December 2004 Fulbright Travel Award to Philadelphia USA.
Nov 2001-Dec 2004 Co-Principal, Marsden Fund/the Royal Society of New Zealand. Ta Moko - Culture, Body Modification & the Psychology of Identity. ($455K)
May 1985-Aug 2010 Curator of the Kiingitanga Collections at Turangawaewae Marae

Governance Entities

August 2006 – June 2009 Chair, Te Waka Toi Maori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand Ministerial Appointee.
August 2000 – July 2006 Member of the Council of Creative New Zealand Ministerial Appointee.
November 1994-1998 Haerewa: Maori Consultant Committee to the Auckland City Art Gallery
March 1989-1993 New Zealand Film Archive Trust Board. Community Appointee
April 1988-1993 Antiquities Act Review Committee. Ministerial Appoint
June 1990-July 1992 Council of the National Art Gallery. Ministerial Appointee.
May 1990-November 1990 Taonga Maori Conference Committee Internal Affairs.
April 1988-April 1990 Project Development Board of the Museum of New Zealand. Ministerial Appointee.
August 1987-August 1990 Cultural Conservation Advisory Council. Ministerial Appointee
Jan 1987 - Aug 1990 Council of the University of Waikato. Governor General's Appointee.
Jan 1986 – Jan 1988 Social Science Research Fund Committee. Ministerial Appointee.

Selective Publications

Recent Books

Te Awekotuku, N. & Parkinson, J. (2011) Kiingitanga Taonga : Royal Collections, an Inventory Ngaruawahia, Office of the Kiingitanga. 514 pages (Embargoed)

Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L. W., Rua, M., & Karapu, R. (2010) Mau Moko : le monde du tatouage Maori. Pape’été, French Polynesia. Au Vent des Iles.

White, H., Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L.W. (eds.) (2008) Ngoku whakaaro hei maharatanga. Ngaruawahia, Turangawaewae Marae Committee.

Mason, N., Mane-Wheoki, J., & Te Awekotuku, N. (2008) Turuki Turuki! Paneke Paneke! When Maori Art Became Contemporary Auckland, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L. W., Rua, M., & Karapu, R. (2007) Mau Moko The World of Maori Tattoo. Auckland, Penguin Viking.

Recent Book Chapters

Te Awekotuku, N. & Nikora, L.W. (2013) Tangihanga : the Ultimate Form of Maori Cultural expression – an Overview of a Research Program In Agee, M. N., McInosh, T., Culbertson, B. & Makasiale, C. O. Pacific Identities and Well-Being : Cross Cultural Perspectives. New York & Oxford, Routledge (pp 169-174)

Te Awekotuku, N. (2012) Moko Maori : an understanding of pain. In Hendry, J. & Fitznor, L. Anthropologists, Indigenous Scholars and the Research Endeavour : Seeking Bridges Towards Mutual Respect. New York & Oxford, Routledge (pp 208-226)

Te Awekotuku, N. (2012) Ma hea (which way)? Mo te aha (what for)? Too many questions, not enough answers, for Maori on the march. In Nairn, R. et al.Ka Tu, Ka Oho : Visions of a Bicultural Partnership in Psychology. Invited Keynotes : Revisiting the Past to Reset the Future. Auckland, The New Zealand Psychological Society. (pp.75-91)

Te Awekotuku, N. (2011) He Mihi : Introduction. In Brake, B. Maori Art The Photography of Brian Brake Auckland, Raupo/Penguin
Te Awekotuku, N. Nikora, L.W., Rua M.R. (2010).Moko Maori : Skin Modification. Berg Encyclopedia of World Fashion New York, Berg Publishers

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010). “Memento Mori: on memory, death and moko.” In R. Taonui, & R. Wiri (Eds.), Matauranga Māori Auckland: Pearsons. (In Press )

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010) “Lindauer: Gallery of Memories.” In Whakamiharo Lindauer online, Auckland Art Gallery. Retrievable from http://www.lindaueronline.co.nz/background/

Te Awekotuku, N. (2008) Foreword. In Michael King & Marti Friedlander Moko Maori Tattooing in the 20th Century. Auckland, David Bateman. (pp10-12).

Te Awekotuku, N. (2008) Arnold Manaaki Wilson: Te Wakaunua. In Ngahiraka Mason, Jonathan Mane-Wheoki & Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (2008) Turuki Turuki Paneke Paneke When Maori Art Became Contemporary Auckland, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. (pp. 84-96).

Te Awekotuku, N. (2006) Mata Ora : Chiseling the Living Face – Dimensions of Maori Tattoo. In Elizabeth Edwards, Chris Gosden & Ruth B. Phillips (Eds.) Sensible Objects-Colonialism, Museums and Material Culture (pp. 121-141), Oxford: Berg Publishers.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2005). He Reka Ano - Same sex lust and loving in the ancient Maori world. In A. J. Laurie & L. Evans (Eds.), Outlines: Lesbian & Gay Histories of Aotearoa (pp. 6-10). Wellington: Lesbian & Gay Archives of New Zealand.

Te Awekotuku, N. & Nicholas, H. (2005) Uhi Ta Moko - designs carved in skin (with Nicholas, H.). In J. Ruszkiewicz, D. Anderson & C. Friend (Eds.) Beyond Words: reading and writing in a visual age (pp. 155-159). New York : Longman.

Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L. W., & Rua, M. (2005) Wearing Moko - Maori facial marking in today's world In N. Thomas & A. Cole & B. Douglas (Eds.) Tatau/Tattoo - Bodies, art and exchange in the Pacific and Europe. London, Reaktion.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2004) He Maimai Aroha: A Disgusting Traffic for Collectors: The Colonial Trade in Preserved Human Heads in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In A. Kiendl (Ed.) Obsession, Compulsion, Collection: On Objects, Display Culture and Interpretation (pp. 77-91). Banff, Alberta: The Banff Centre Press.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2002) More than skin deep: Ta Moko Today. In E. Barkan & R. Bush (Eds.) Claiming the Stones/Naming the Bones: Cultural Property and the Negotiation of National and Ethnic Identity in the American and British Experience. Los Angeles: Getty Press.
Te Awekotuku, N. (1997) Ta Moko : Maori Tattoo. In R. Blackley (Ed.) Goldie Auckland, Auckland Art Gallery & David Bateman.

Te Awekotuku, N. (1996) Maori : People and Culture. In D.C. Starzecka (Ed.) Maori Art and Culture. London, British Museum Press.
Reports

Te Awekotuku, N. & Suddith, P. (October 2008) Interventions written & presented at the Thirteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. World Intellectual Property Organisation, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

Te Awekotuku, N. & Suddith, P. (February 2008) Interventions written & presented at the Twelfth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. World Intellectual Property Organisation, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

Te Awekotuku, N. & Nikora, L. W. (2003). Nga Taonga o Te Urewera. Report prepared for the Tuhoe Waikaremoana Trust Board Claim WAI 36, August 2003.

Journals & Refereed Conference Proceedings

Cameron, N. E., Balks, M , Littler, R , Manley-Harris, M , Te Awekotuku, N. (2012) An investigation by LA-ICP-MS of possum tooth enamel as a model for identifying childhood geographical locations of historical and archaeological human remains from New Zealand.
Journal of Pacific Archaeology

Nikora, L. W, Te Awekotuku, N , Rua, M, Temara, P., Maxwell, T, Murphy, E, McRae, K , Moeke-Maxwell, T. (2010) Tangihanga: The ultimate form of Māori cultural expression - overview of a research programme Proceedings of the 4th International Traditional Knowledge Conference 2010: Kei Muri i Te Kāpara. Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.

Rua, H, Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L.W., Rua, M. (2010) Waikirikiri Marae: Shared experiences of the wharemate Proceedings of the 4th International Traditional Knowledge Conference 2010: Kei Muri i Te Kāpara. Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.

Nikora, L. W., Rua, M., Te Awekotuku, N., Guerin, B., & McCaughey, J. (2008). Social consequences of Tuhoe migration: Voices from home in Te Urewera. MAI Review(2). Online: http://ojs.review.mai.ac.nz/.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2007). Maori Women Researching Ourselves. Pacific Studies: Special Issue Women Writing Oceania : Weaving the Sails of the Vaka, 30 (1&2), 69-83.

Nikora, L. W., Rua, M. R., & Te Awekotuku, N. (2007). Renewal and resistance: Moko in contemporary New Zealand. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology (17), 477-489.

Morrison, T., Spivak, G., & Te Awekotuku, N. (2005). Guest Column: Roundtable on the Future of the Humanities in a Fragmented World. PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 120(3), 715-723.

Nikora, L. W., Guerin, B., Rua, M., & Te Awekotuku, N. (2004). Moving Away from Home : Some Social Consequences for Tühoe Migrating to the Waikato. New Zealand Population Review, 30 (1&2): 93-109.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2004). Ma hea - which way? Mo te aha - what for? Too many questions, not enough answers, for Maori on the march. The Bulletin, 103, 29-33.

Peer-Reviewed Conferences

I have not included conference papers co-authored with PhD students whom I am supervising.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2012, December). He Pohewa ki Te Pae Tawhiti: Reimagining Indigenous Anthropology: A Maori Perspective. An Invited Address to the 2012 Association of Social Anthropology of Aotearoa/New Zealand (ASAANZ) Conference, the University of Victoria, Wellington.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2012). Mata Aroha: from Preserved Head to Baronial Portraits, Re- presentations of the Ancestral Image in Maori Mourning Ritual. Paper presented to the Art of Death and Dying Symposium, University of Houston, Texas. 24-27 October

Te Awekotuku, N & Nikora, L.W. (2012) Honouring our Dead through the Skin : memorial tattoo in the Maori world. Paper presented at the Fourteenth International Conference of Community Psychology, Barcelona, Spain, 21-23 June.

Nikora, L.W., Te Awekotuku, N & Masters, B. (2012) Death in the Maori world : the ambiguous nature of “home.” Paper presented at the Fourteenth International Conference of Community Psychology, Barcelona, Spain, 21-23 June.

Te Awekotuku, N & Nikora, L.W. (2012) Death, Skin & Remembrance : memorial tattoo in the Maori world. Paper presented at the First International Interdisciplinary Social Inquiry Conference, Bursa, Turkey, 17-20 June.

Te Awekotuku, N & Nikora, L.W. (2012) New Zealand Maori rituals of lamentation.Paper presented at the First International Interdisciplinary Social Inquiry Conference, Bursa, Turkey, 17-20 June.

Te Awekotuku, N & Nikora, L.W. (2012) He Mate Ano : sexualities, lifestyles and death in the Maori world. Ngae Pae o te Maramatanga International Indigenous Development Conference, Auckland 27-30 June.

Te Awekotuku, N (2012) Moengaroa : Death, lifestyle and sexuality in the Maori world. Death Down Under Conference, Dunedin. 28-29 June.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2011, 24-28 August). Māringiringi noa : death ritual & Māori women. Invited Address. World Dreaming : World Congress of Psychotherapy, Sydney. Australia.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2011, 27-28 June). He Awhimate : Understanding, Embracing and Learning about Death in Our Different Worlds. Opening Keynote - Death Down Under Conference for Death Studies. The University of Sydney. Australia

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010, 1-3 November). - Whaia te iti kahurangi: Flying the Blue Skies of Research. Invited Panel Address - the Runninghot! 2010 Wonder & Widgets: Realizing The Value of Research for New Zealand. Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.

Te Awekotuku, N., & Nikora, L. W. (2010, 19 December). L’Autochthone Maori: Mana Maori Motuhake. Invited Address - at Le Groupe Litterama’ohi. Papara, Tahiti.

Te Awekotuku, N., & Nikora, L. W. (2010, 14 December). “Mau Moko: Ie tatouage du Monde Maori. Invited Address - Universite de la Polynesie francaise. Pape’été, Tahiti.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010, 29 June). “Tangi: Maori Death Ritual: A Project Overview.” Invited Address Death Studies Group Symposium. University of Sheffield, England.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010, 6-9 June). Tanenuiarangi: Difference through a Metaphor of Death and Memory. Opening Keynote - Nga Pae o te Maramatanga 4th International Indigenous Conference: Matauranga Taketake: Traditional Knowledge. The University of Auckland.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2010, 18-21 March). He Karanga Aitua, He Korero Ranei? Inviting death by talking about it. Invited Keynote - New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists National Conference - Into the Unknown. Founders Heritage Park, Nelson.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2008, 14 November) Whiua ki te Ao : Benefits of World Intellectual Property Organisation Membership for the Moutere & Iwi of Takitimu Waka. Keynote - Takitimu Cultural Summit, Hastings.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2008, 18-19 April) Wahine Purotu : Reflections on moko, gender, and Maori identity. Keynote - Sacred Marks : Samoan Styles : a Symposium, Unitec New Zealand, Auckland.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2007, 17 November) He ngārahu tapu taku ngārahu : forbidden or foreboding? Lines of ink, curves of knowledge :Moko Māori. Keynote – Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand Annual Conference, Hamilton.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2007, 15-22 June) Mai te Waiariki ki Halema’uma’u : he maioha ki a Pele. Invited presentation – PIKO : a Gathering of Indigenous Contemporary Visual Artists, Waimea, Hawaii, USA.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2006, 21-22 April ) Ma wai ra? Whose legacy? And is it a club, or a cleaver? Invited presentation - Crossing Boundaries : Art Museums & Anthropology Museums in Search of Common Ground: a Symposium, Harvard University Art Museums & Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Te Awekotuku, N., Guerin, B., McCaughey, J., Nikora, L. W., & Rua, M. (2005). Maori Mobility: Voices from Te Urewera. Paper presented at the "New Directions: New Settlers: New Challengers" end-user meeting, Victoria University, Wellington.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2005, 27 November - 1 December). Moko: the artform's history.

Paper presented at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference On Education (WIPCE), University of Waikato, Hamilton.

Te Awekotuku, N., Cairns, P., Nikora, L. W., & Rua, M. (2005, 27 November - 1 December 2005). Moko, Mutations and Beyond the Modern Primitive. Paper presented at the World Indigenous Peoples Conference On Education (WIPCE), University of Waikato, Hamilton, Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Te Awekotuku, N., Nicholas, H., & Nikora, L. W. (2005, 27 November - 1 December). Moko: Identity, power & control - a case study. Paper presented at the World Indigenous People's Conference on Education (WIPCE), University of Waikato, Hamilton.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2004, 27-30 December) The Future of the Humanities in a Fragmented World: a tribal perspective. Keynote Roundtable Presentation with Toni Morrison & Gayatri Spivak, the 120th Modern Languages Annual Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2004). He Maimai Aroha: A Disgusting Traffic for Collectors:

The Colonial Trade in Preserved Human Heads in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In A. Kiendl (Ed.), Obsession, Compulsion, Collection: On Objects, Display Culture and Interpretation (pp. 77-91). Banff, Alberta: The Banff Centre Press.

Te Awekotuku, N. (2004, 27-30 August). Ma hea - which way? Mo te aha - what for? Too many questions, not enough answers, for Maori on the March. Paper presented at the The New Zealand Psychological Society 2004 Conference, "Psychologies for Aotearoa/New Zealand". Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, Wellington.

This is my recent academic resume. I have not included publications before 1994. I have also published two works of fiction, and my short stories and poetry are featured in several local and international anthologies and collections. Sometimes I undertake work for broadcasting and television; I prefer radio.