Hugh Kawharu was born in Ashburton and educated at Auckland Grammar School, Auckland University, Victoria University, Cambridge University and Oxford University. From 1953 to 1965 he worked for the Māori Affairs Department in housing, welfare and trust administration. He was Head of the Anthropology Department at Auckland University and held the Foundation chair in Social Anthropology and Māori studies at Massey University. In 1984 he was appointed Professor of Māori Studies at Auckland University. He retired in 1992 to become foundation Director of the James Henare Māori Research Centre, University of Auckland. He was President of the Polynesian Society and President of the Association of Social Anthropologists (NZ). He was a consultant to FAO, UNESCO and the New Zealand Māori Council, and was a member of the Royal Commission on the Courts. He was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal and a Ngāti Whatua delegate on the National Māori Congress. He was a patron of the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford. He received a knighthood in 1989. He had the following qualifications: B. Sc [New Zealand] M. A [Cambridge] and D. Phil [Oxford]. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society (N. Z.) and Hon. Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Kawharu was Chair of Ngāti Whatua and Orakei Māori Trust Board from its inception in 1978, and of the Orakei Reserves Board since its formation in 1992. He was a member of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Aotea Centre Trust Boards, and the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. He contributed to 10 volumes of Waitangi Tribunal reports since his appointment to the Tribunal in 1986, plus reports of the Royal Commission on the Courts (1998) and the Crimes Committee (1990). In 1991 he received the honour of Knight Bachelor for services to Māori. In 2002 he was appointed to the Order of New Zealand. In 2005 he received Auckland’s Distinguished Citizen Award. Kawharu provided some of the annotations below which appear in quotation.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence from Sir Hugh Kawharu, 24th Aug. 1998.
- Te Ha questionnaire, 1992.
- Journal of the Polynesian Society 93.3 (1984): 230.
- Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 129.
Non-fiction
- Introduction. Administration in New Zealand’s Multi-Racial Society. Ed. R. H. Brookes and I. H. Kawharu. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Institute of Public Administration. London: Oxford UP, 1967. 7-14.
- This is a collection of edited papers presented at the 1966 annual convention of the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration by experts examining the ‘administrative implications of New Zealand’s multi-racial society’. Kawharu writes an introduction from a Māori perspective and focuses primarily on ‘the long-range policy alternatives’ promulgated by Dr Metge and Professor Ritchie. He discusses integration and assimilation and argues for the need for careful research into the ‘nature of ethnic groups and of the social changes they are experiencing’ before policy alternatives can be supported. Kawharu explores possible forms of integration between Māori tribes, drawing on the Māori Battalion model and examines the changing nature of Māori urban and rural communities.
- "Pacific Commentary: Prichard-Waetford inquiry into Māori land." Journal of the Polynesian Society 76.2 (1967): 205-214.
- Kawharu provides a highly detailed critique of I. Prichard and H. T. Waetford’s "Report of Committee of Inquiry into Laws Affecting Māori Land and Powers of the Māori Land Court’ (1965). This critique was used as a data paper for a national conference on the Report held in May 1966 coordinated by the New Zealand Māori Council and the University of Auckland’s Extension Department.
- Administration in New Zealand’s Multi-Racial Society. Ed. R. H. Brookes and I. H. Kawharu. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Institute of Public Administration; London: Oxford UP, 1967. [Studies in public administration]
- See annotation under non-fiction article: Introduction. Administration in New Zealand’s Multi-Racial Society. Ed. R. H. Brookes and I. H. Kawharu. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Institute of Public Administration. London: Oxford UP, 1967. 7-14.
- "Urban Immigrants and Tangata Whenua." Ed. Erik Schwimmer. The Māori People of the Nineteen-Sixties: A Symposium. Auckland, N.Z.: Blackwood & Janet Paul, 1968. 174-186.
- A discussion of some of the implications of Māori migration to cities. Kawharu looks at the impact of tangata whenua and non-tangata whenua Māori living together. He makes specific reference to the Orakei settlement and marae project, and the marae at Mangere. Kawharu also examines the unique role of marae in urban settings and the different linkings of Māori in urban areas such as kinship ties and interest-centred groups.
- Social Life of the Māori Today. Auckland, N.Z.: Department of Anthropology, U of Auckland, 1970. [Working papers in anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, Māori Studies; no. 6].
- ‘Kawharu discusses the relevance of kinship analysis for understanding patterns of social behaviour among the contemporary Māori.’
- "Increasing the Māori Contribution in Manufacturing Industry." Ed. K. W. Thomson and A. D. Irlin. Contemporary New Zealand. Wellington, N.Z.: Hicks Smith, 1973. 39-47.
- Kawharu examines the question of acceptance and non-acceptance of positions of responsibility by Māori in the manufacturing industry. He discusses the importance of ‘understanding socio-cultural differences’.
- Conflict and Compromise: Essays on the Māori Since Colonisation. Ed. I. H. Kawharu. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1975.
- Kawharu writes: ‘This is a collection of studies presented by authors of masterate and doctoral theses who had been supervised by Kawharu in the Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland. (The book was dedicated to the first head of the Department, Professor Ralph Piddington). In his introduction Kawharu describes the symposium as a collection of case studies illustrating social processes found the world over among small-scale traditional societies in colonial situations and in situations of adaptation to an industrial economy. Interestingly, neither he nor any of the authors here, nor the authors of Administration in New Zealand’s Multi-Racial Society consider the Treaty of Waitangi and its implications (The Treaty of Waitangi Act was not passed until 1975, the year Conflict and Compromise was published).’
- Orakei: A Ngāti Whatua Community. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1975. [Educational research series. [Wellington, N.Z.], no. 54]
- "Research and Administration in a Multi-Cultural Society: The New Zealand-Māori Experience." Pacific Perspective 5.2 (1976): 24-29.
- This paper was presented to the 13th Pacific Science Congress held in Vancouver, B.C., Canada in August 1975. Kawharu discusses the different contributions made in a multi-cultural society by social welfare administrators and social scientists. He argues for a greater collaboration between the two groups.
- Māori Land Tenure: Studies of a Changing Institution. Oxford, U.K., New York: Clarendon, 1977.
- Kawharu states ‘this is a collection of studies compiled by the author over a 15 year period including his theses (B. Litt and D. Phil), lectures, reports prepared for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and an extended critique of a government committee of inquiry into Māori land. The theme of the book concerns the changes affecting Māori tribal society as a result of the process of individualisation of title to ancestral land and involvement in a market economy. An attempt is made to see in the century-long aftermath of the Treaty and the advent of the Māori Land Court something of the tensions and contradictions that have continued to harass the Māori people in the tenure of their land.’
- Introduction. "Part Three: New Zealand: Māori Incorporations." Trends in Ethnic Group Relations in Asia and Oceania. Paris, Fr.: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 1979. 205-211.
- In this introduction to the three essays on Māori incorporations, Kawharu gives an overview of the growing Māori population. He examines the education, employment, housing, community services, legal and political status, religious affiliations and land of the Māori.
- "Some Social and Sociological Aspects of Incorporations." Trends in Ethnic Group Relations in Asia and Oceania. Paris, Fr.: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1979. 267-292.
- Kawharu contrasts traditional Māori land tenure with that of the incorporations. He also provides a detailed study of various aspects of the incorporations. He examines Māori land issue in terms of the criticism of separatism
- Land as Turangawaewae: Ngāti Whatua’s Destiny at Orakei. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Planning Council, 1979. [Planning paper/New Zealand Planning Council, ISSN 0111-0470; no. 2]. Rpt. as "Land as a Turangawaewae: Ngāti Whātua’s Destiny at ōrakēi." He Mātāpuna: A Source: Some Māori Perspectives. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Kaunihera Whakakaupapa mō Aotearoa, New Zealand Planning Council NZPC No. 14, Dec. 1979. [Rpt. in 1989.] 53-57.
- Kawharu describes the history of the Ngāti Whātua at ōrakēi. He provides a chronology of the Crown legislation concerning ōrakēi and records the events leading up to the final settlement returning land to Ngāti Whātua in February 1978. A fuller version of this paper is held by the New Zealand Planning Council.
- "Māori Sociology: A Commentary." Journal of the Polynesian Society 93.3 (1984): 231-246.
- Kawharu presents a discourse on the varying applications of identity and meaning contained in the concept of hapu in Māori society. He outlines the common links of hapu members and discusses kindred-based groups which come together for specific situations.
- "Salvaging the Remnant." Ed. Ron Crocombe. Land Tenure in the Pacific. 3rd ed. Fiji: U of the South Pacific, 1987. 143-163.
- Kawharu writes: ‘In this contribution to a symposium of land tenure he focuses more on the sociological and political than on the legal and economic. Data are drawn from events in New Zealand that took place after the publication of this Māori Land Tenure book, including the passing of the Treaty of Waitangi Act, 1975 and the Crown’s encouragement of tribal initiatives in development.’
- Waitangi: Māori and Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ed. I. H Kawharu. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1989.
- "The Treaty of Waitangi: A Maori Point of View." British Review of NZ Studies 5 (1992): 23-36.
- "Mana and the Crown: A Marae at Orakei." Waitangi: Māori and Pākehā Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ed. I. H. Kawharu. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1989. 211-233. An extract is rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 129-143.
- A detailed and comprehensive account of the history of Ngāti Whatua possession of land in the Tamaki Isthmus since the 18th century. Kawharu discusses the changing prosperity of Ngāti Whatua from the 19th century to its landless state in 1950. Kawharu describes the Ngāti Whatua thrust to regain their land and marae in the 1970s and 80s. He also provides a history of Ngāti Whatua from the early decades of the 18th century when Ngāti Whatua took over the Waiohua’s ascendancy over the Tamaki Isthmus and asserted their dominance.
- Foreword. The Origins of the First New Zealanders. Ed. Douglas G. Sutton. Auckland, N.Z.: Auckland UP, 1994. xv.
- Kawharu briefly discusses the relationship between ‘origins’ and identity for Māori. He writes that in The Origins of the First New Zealanders ‘[f]oremost authorities in Pacific archaeology, linguistics, ecology, and biological anthropology introduce the reader to the age-old questions: when did people first arrive in New Zealand; where did they come from; was there multiple or single colonisation of New Zealand; and was there return pre-European migration from New Zealand to tropical Polynesia?’
- "Rangatiratanga and Sovereignty by 2040." He Pukenga Korero: a Journal of Maori Studies 1.2 (1996): 11-20.
- "Kinship Principle Brings Resolution." New Zealand Herald 29 Dec. 1999: A17.
- "The Treaty of Waitangi: The Deed that Created New Zealand." Press 6 Feb. 2004: sup. 1-4.
- Co-authors Hugh Kawharu, Mark Wilson and Philip Joseph.
Other
- Howe, K.R. "Impeccably Donnish." Comment: A New Zealand Quarterly Review 6 (1979): 34-35.
- Orange, Claudia. "Reviews." New Zealand Journal of History 13.2 (1979): 199-201.
- Sorrenson, Keith. New Zealand International Review 4.1 (1979): 31.
Reviews
- Capitalism, Primitive and Modern, by Scarlett T. Epstein. Journal of the Polynesian Society 80.3 (1971): 390-391.
Other
- Bell, Cathie. "Rain No Damper on Knights’ Day." Dominion 20 Nov. 1989: 3.
- Chamberlain, Jenny. "Two Worlds." North and South 104 (1994): 16-17.
- Jones, Lloyd. "Maori Academic Shifts Focus." New Zealand Herald 2 Feb. 1993: 9.
- "Māori Scholar Studies Land Development." Te Ao Hou 37 (1961): 16.
- "Oxford Like a Marae." Te Maori: Nga Hui Hui Nga Korero O Aotearoa 106 (1999): 4.
- Rennie, Neil. "Māori Studies Start at Massey Next Year." Te Māori 2.5 (1971): 35.
- Scott, Sue. "Māori Contribution Pleases Elder." Evening Post 25 Jan. 1990: 3.
- "Sir Hugh Interested in all People." Dominion 17 June 1989: 6.
- "Sir Hugh to Retire." Te Maori News 4 Mar. 1993: 14.
- Watt, Lawrence. "Maori Development." Management 43.5 (1996): 26-27.
- Barrington, Mike. "Throng from North Mourn Sir Hugh." Northern Advocate 22 2006: 1.
- "Chief Bridged Two Cultures." Otago Daily Times 23 Sept. 2006: 38.
- "Eminent Maori Professor Dies." Ingenio: the University of Auckland Alumni Magazine Spring (2006): 4.
- "Farewell, Whispering Giant." Sunday Star Times 24 Sept. 2006: A4.
- Ihaka, James. "A Man of Wisdom and Knowledge: Death Another Big Loss for Maoridom." New Zealand Herald 20 Sept. 2006: A6.
- "Maori Leader Sir Hugh Kawharu Dies." Tvnz.co.nz. Sept. 23, 2006. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/423466/832514 3 July 2008.
- "Obituary: Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu." Scoop – Independent News http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0609/S00219.htm 3 July 2008.
- Pickmere, Arnold. "Voice of Reason in Ngati Whatua’s Struggles." New Zealand Hrald 23 Sept. 2006: A28.
- "Sir Hugh Kawharu ‘Man of Great Mana’." Dominion Post 20 Sept. 2006: A14.
- Taylor, Phil J. "Passing on a Promising Future." Spasifik 17 (2006): 40-41.
- Walker, Ranginui. "Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu 1927-2006." Journal of the Polynesian Society 115.4 (2006): 313-315.
- Taylor, C. R. H. A Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, Oxford UP, 1972. 39, 53.
Reviews
Conflict and Compromise: Essays on the Maori Since Colonization
- Sorrenson, M. P. K. "Reviews." New Zealand Journal of History 2.10 (1976): 192-193.
Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty
- Beardsley, Eric. "Two Perspectives on Waitangi." Press 14 Oct. 1989: 27.
- Belich, James. "Hobson’s Choice." New Zealand Journal of History 24.2 (1990): 200-207.
- Binney, Judith. "Books: The Treaty: Two Views: 1: New Understanding." Listener 8 July 1989: 55.
- Cheyne, Christine. "Struggles Over Sovereignty: Reading for the Sesquicentennial Review Essay." Sites: A Journal for Radical Perspectives on Culture 20 (1990): 157-162.
- Gilmore, William C et al. "Book Reviews." British Review of NZ Studies 4 (1991): 91-108.
- Jackson, Moana. "Books: The Treaty: Two Views: 2: Pakeha Definitions." Listener 8 July 1989: 55-56.
- Jackson, Moana. "Books." PPTA Journal 2 (1989): 51.
- Kenderdine, Shona. "Books: Filling a Vacuum in Our Knowledge." Dominion 25 Mar. 1989: 9.
- King, Michael. "Books: As Others See Us." Metro 9.95 (1989): 178, 181.
- Mikaere, Annie L. "Book Review." New Zealand Universities Law Review 14.1 (1990): 97-101.
- Newbury, Colin. "Reviews." New Zealand Journal of History 25.1 (1991): 66-67.