Tā Tamati Reedy, one of New Zealand’s foremost Māori academics, public servants and language advocates, has died, his whānau announced in a social media post. — Tā Tamati Reedy, one of New Zealand’s foremost Māori academics, public servants and language advocates, has died, his whānau announced in a social media post.
He is being remembered as someone who devoted his life to education, Māori development and public leadership.
Born in Ruatoria in 1936 and of Ngāti Porou descent, Tā Tamati built a distinguished academic career that helped shape modern Māori scholarship and language revitalisation.
Toa Mātauranga
After beginning his career as a teacher in primary and secondary schools, he completed a Bachelor of Arts and later a Master of Arts with honours in English at the University of Auckland.
He later earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Hawai‘i, specialising in te reo Māori.
Tā Tamati was a Fulbright scholar and served as an associate professor at the University of Alabama from 1982 to 1983, where he taught linguistics and an anthropology course called “Peoples of the Pacific.”
His expertise in education and Māori affairs led to senior leadership roles in government.
From 1983 to 1989, Tā Tamati served as secretary of the Department of Māori Affairs during a transformative period for Māori policy and language recognition.
Toa Reo Māori
During his tenure, the Māori Language Act 1987 established te reo Māori as an official language and led to the creation of the Māori Language Commission.
Tā Tamati later played a major role in the development of kōhanga reo and Māori immersion education, contributing to the creation of Te Whāriki, New Zealand’s first national early childhood curriculum.
In 1996, he became the founding dean and professor of the School of Māori and Pacific Development at the University of Waikato. He later served as the university’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori and became the institution’s first Māori emeritus professor.
Away from academia and public service, Tā Tamati was also an accomplished rugby player. A wing and fullback, he represented the Māori All Blacks on their 1960 Pacific tour and played provincial rugby for Poverty Bay-East Coast and Thames Valley.
Knighted in 2011 for services to education, Tā Tamati leaves a lasting legacy in Māori education, language revitalisation and public life.
Haere rā e hika. Kauria atu rā te moana i hoea ai e ōhau tīpuna e.
