Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi

Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi
DNZM MBE
Tāwhiwhirangi in 2010
Born
Irirangi Thatcher

(1929-03-21)21 March 1929
Wharekahika / Hicks Bay, New Zealand
Died1 February 2025(2025-02-01) (aged 95)
New Zealand
EducationHukarere Girls' School
Alma materWellington Teachers' College
OccupationEducator
Known forMāori language advocacy
Spouse
Porourangi Tāwhiwhirangi
​
​
(m. 1949; died 1969)​

Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi DNZM MBE (born Irirangi Thatcher; 21 March 1929 – 1 February 2025) was a New Zealand advocate of Māori language education and the kōhanga reo movement.

Biography

Born in Hicks Bay on 21 March 1929,[1][2][3] Tāwhiwhirangi was of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Canadian and English descent. She was educated at Hukarere Girls' School from 1943 to 1946, and then Wellington Teachers' College from 1947 to 1948.[1] While in Wellington, Tāwhiwhirangi met and in 1949 married Porourangi Tāwhiwhirangi, a rangatira of Ngāti Porou.[4][5] After, the pair returned to the East Coast and Tāwhiwhirangi began teaching at Waiōmatatini School. Her husband passed away in 1969.[6]

By the 1980s, Tāwhiwhirangi left teaching, instead returning to Wellington to work within the Department of Māori Affairs.[5] After attending national planning hui at Waiwhetu Marae in 1980, she dedicated her efforts to revitalizing Te Reo Māori. To do so, she traveled around New Zealand, visiting marae advocating for a new, Māori-led form of education to assist in restoring the language. These efforts led to the establishment of te Kōhanga reo, schools that focused on complete immersion for kindergarten-aged children, taught by Māori elders.[7] Tāwhiwhirangi's advocacy across the country was highly effective, as by 1982, there were 100, a number which continued to grow to 800 in 1994, although as of 2026 this has now receded to 460.[8] Tāwhiwhirangi was a life member of the Māori Women's Welfare League and Toitū Kaupapa Māori Mātauranga – Māori Education Trust. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.[9]

Tāwhiwhirangi died on 1 February 2025, at the age of 95.[10]

Honours and awards

Tāwhiwhirangi was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal,[1] and in the 1992 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition of her role as general manager of Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust.[11] In 1993, she received the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[1]

In the 2001 New Year Honours, Tāwhiwhirangi was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori education,[12] and in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours she was promoted to Dame Companion, also for services to Māori education.[13]

Tāwhiwhirangi was a finalist for the 2014 New Zealander of the Year Awards.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). "New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001". New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
  2. ^ "Kōkiri and Kōkiritia". Tpk.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  3. ^ "New Maori dame helped thousands learn te reo". Stuff.co.nz. 1 May 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Tāwhiwhirangi, Iritana Te Rangi (Dame), 1929–". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  5. ^ a b Thomson, Margie; Young, Simon (2019). Woman kind: New Zealand women making a difference. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books. pp. 66–69. ISBN 978-0-14-377272-9.
  6. ^ "Tawhiwhirangi Porourangi – Tikitiki – sheep farmer". Archives New Zealand. p. 7. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Te Kōhanga Reo | NZ History". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  8. ^ ECE, My (1 December 2022). "Te Kōhanga Reo Early Childhood Centres Aotearoa". My ECE. Retrieved 30 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust". Kohanga.ac.nz. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Māori educator Dame Iritana Te Rangi Tāwhiwhirangi dies aged 95". RNZ News. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  11. ^ "No. 52768". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1991. p. 30.
  12. ^ "New Year honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  13. ^ Queen's Birthday Honours List 2009, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; retrieved 18 November 2020.
  14. ^ Laird, Lindy (28 February 2014). "Kaitaia health champion wins again". The Northern Advocate. Retrieved 28 February 2014.


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