Leonie PihamaLeonie Pihama

Associate Professor Leonie Pihama (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Māhanga, Ngā Māhanga a Tairi) is director of Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato, and director of Māori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd, a Kaupapa Māori research company. She has worked as an associate professor in education at the University of Auckland teaching in the fields of policy analysis, Māori women's issues, and the politics of representation of indigenous peoples. Leonie is a leading kaupapa Māori educator and researcher and has been working in the intersecting fields of education, health, whānau wellbeing and Maori immersion education for a number of decades.

A son celebrates his mother in Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen

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Professor Leonie Pihama on the unique values and perspective filmmaker Merata Mita brought to the screen, and how it changed how we see ourselves. “The way I see it, if you’re a Māori woman and that’s all you are, that alone will put you on a collision course with, that society and its expectations. And … Read more

We are not your brand: Why Air New Zealand’s tā moko ban must end

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How dare our national airline continue to brand itself with Indigenous symbols while rejecting employees who wear those same symbols on their bodies, writes Leonie Pihama. As I sit at a conference on the island of Maui, I see tā moko and kākau (a Hawaiian form of moko) proudly worn by Indigenous Peoples. The power … Read more

Why did the Crown support the Waitara Lands Bill when hapū weren’t all on board?

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The Waitara Lands Bill passed its third reading in December – settling one of Aotearoa’s longest-running land disputes – despite only one of two hapū giving their support. Why has the government allowed this to happen, asks Leonie Pihama. I received a parliamentary alert in December that read, “The following documents matching your alert criteria … Read more

Summer reissue: Moko kauae is the right of all Māori women. It is not a right for anyone else.

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Pākehā life coach Sally Anderson came under fire for receiving moko kauae, as has the tā moko artist that gave it to her. Leonie Pihama looks at the difference between rights and privilege when it comes to wāhine Māori and moko kauae. This post was first published 24 May 2018. Over the past few days I … Read more

Moko kauae is the right of all Māori women. It is not a right for anyone else.

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Pākehā life coach Sally Anderson has come under fire this week for receiving moko kauae, as has the tā moko artist that gave it to her. Leonie Pihama looks at the difference between rights and privilege when it come to wāhine Māori and moko kauae. Over the past few days I have been watching from afar … Read more