Maanu Paul was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019 for his services to Māori. Photo: RNZ/Justine Murray
Prominent kaumātua, academic and long-serving member of the New Zealand Māori Council, Maanu Paul, has died at the age of 83.
He was a teacher, academic, leader and keen organic gardener who fought tirelessly and advocated passionately for the interests of his iwi, hapū, whānau and te ao Māori in general.
He served as executive chair of the New Zealand Māori Council for from 1997 to 2002.
Paul was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019 for his services to Māori.
He was born and grew up in Murupura until he was seven when his mother passed away.
Speaking with Te Ahi Kaa's Justine Murray last year, he talked about his upbringing and how lucky he was to have been raised with both of his grandmothers who grounded him in lessons of growing kai and understanding our taiao - our natural environment, first with his paternal grandmother in Waiohau.
When he began intermediate he was then sent to Poroporo to live with his maternal grandmother, who encouraged him to learn the differences between the inland and coastal maramataka.
He then became keen and talented gardener, in which he grew a number of organic vegetables and fruit at his home in Ōhope - also running a 20-acre organic kiwifruit orchard later on his career.
In the early 70s, he became a teacher at Hamilton Teachers' College and taught at various secondary schools before moving into tertiary studies and was also a Fullbright Scholar at universities and community colleges in the US, presenting his papers all over the world.
He was a Māori rights advocate; some would describe him as a disruptor, always challenging the status quo and informing the national debate of the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa.
When his hands weren't in the soil, he was often seen at the Waitangi Tribunal, in court, at various board hui, council meetings or an orator on the paepae.
He was a key negotiator in the Māori fisheries claim which led to the 1992 deed of settlement known as the Sealord Deal.
Paul helped establish the Mātaatua Rangatahi Court in Whakatāne, where he would volunteer his time.
He is survived by his wife Gwenda, his four children and many mokopuna.
He has been taken to his marae Wairaka, with his nehu scheduled in the coming days.