Respected Māori Academic Dr Mānuka Henare (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu), was laid to rest last week after battling a degenerative illness for a short time.
Dr Mānuka Henare was laid to rest last week after battling a degenerative illness for a short time. Photo: The University of Auckland
Dr Henare had most recently been an associate professor for the school of business at the University of Auckland.
His work within Māori business and economics was well regarded due to the connections Dr Henare was able to form between Te Ao Māori perspectives and mainstream education.
He utilised Mātauranga Māori when educating his students about the Māori economy, history and research.
Dr Henare was the first Māori Academic to work within the Auckland University Business school when he joined in 1996 and was the lead facilitator of the tertiary programme Te Tohu Huanga, a Māori Development programme within the Post Graduate Diploma in Business.
Dr Ella Henry, an associate professor at AUT had worked closely alongside Dr Henare on projects such as the Kahurangi Dame Mira Szaszy research centre.
Dr Henry said Dr Henare made a huge contribution to Māori scholarship and Māori history and that he was a great teacher, a rigorous scholar and a good mentor to a whole generation of Māori Scholars.
"Mānuka's most significant contribution was re-looking at and re-framing our history from within a Māori cultural context.
"He was very much committed to inclusion, developing relationships across the Māori and non-Māori worlds."
Dr Henare was heavily involved in the Catholic Church.
He worked within kaupapa Māori, justice and youth-related matters and was the main tour-guide for Pope John Paul when he visited Aotearoa in 1986 following a request for a Māori Bishop to be ordained.
Dr Henry said Dr Henare's commitment to sharing his knowledge and values was evident.
She said his contribution was "underpinned by a deep and profound understanding off Māori cosmology, Māori religion and Māori values and ethics".
Dr Henare received an award for Sustained excellence in Tertiary teaching within the Kaupapa Māori category in 2018.
He passed away at the age of 78 last Saturday.
Dr Henare was laid to rest in his home area of Whangapē.
Moe mai rā e te rangatira, moe mai rā.