Prof Whatarangi Winiata, renowed Māori academic and leader, dies

Prominent Māori academic and leader Professor Whatarangi Winiata, founding president of Te Pāti Māori and a key figure in the establishment of Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki, has died. He was 90.

Whānau posted on social media last night confirming his death.

"This notice is to inform the motu that, as of this afternoon, Whatarangi Winiata has taken his final breath in this world of the living and begun his journey to join his loved ones.

"At this time, we share this announcement simply to notify the motu of his passing. Further details regarding his tangihanga will be released tomorrow. We kindly ask that tonight and tomorrow, day and evening, be for his whānau as we grieve and come together to mourn our loss."

Winiata dedicated his life to iwi development and Māori advancement.

He was the founding president for Te Pāti Māori and was one of the original authors of its constitution. He saw the party through its first five years from 2004.

He championed a bicultural partnership approach between Māori and the Crown, designing and pushing for a Two House governance model.

This extended in other areas such as the Anglican Church – which he was part of the discussions that would eventually lead to the adoption of the Three Tikanga House model in 1992 – and local government.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council steering group Whaitua Kāpiti Committee used his Tiriti House model, a decision-making approach that combined mātauranga Māori and western science, in the development of their implementation plan to restore Kāpiti waterways.

Winiata was the architect behind the Whakatupuranga Rua Mano language strategy to revitalise te reo Māori among his iwi as well as the wider Rangitikei, Kapiti, and Wellington regions.

He was a driving force behind the establishment of Te Wānanga o Raukawa, a tikanga Māori tertiary education provider, in 1981 – continuing an educational pathway for students of kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori in the region. He was tumuaki (chief executive) from 1994 to 2007.

As a result of these efforts, Ōtaki is known as one of the country’s first bilingual centres.

In 2018, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Ngā Tohu Reo Māori, the national Māori language awards, and in 2022 he was recognised as a ‘living taonga’ by the Iwi Chairs Forum.

While teaching at Victoria University of Wellington in the 1970s, he was appointed to the chair of Accountancy and became a professor of finance. He was later honoured with the title of professor emeritus.

He was the second Māori to graduate from the University of New Zealand with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, and studied at the University of Michigan, completing a master’s and doctorate’s degree.