Elizabeth Kerekere

Dr Elizabeth Anne Kerekere[2] (born 1966)[3] is a New Zealand politician and LGBTQ+ activist and scholar.[4] Of Māori descent, she affiliates to Te Whānau a Kai, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, and Ngāti Oneone.[4] She is the founder / chair of Tīwhanawhana Trust (2000).[5] She identifies as takatāpui and produced the first major research on mental health and the culture of on the takatāpui whānau.[6]

Elizabeth Kerekere

MP
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Green party list
Assumed office
17 October 2020
Personal details
Born1966 (age 54–55)
Gisborne, New Zealand[1]
Political partyGreen
AwardsTakatapui Award – 2018 New Zealand LGBTI Awards
Academic background
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
ThesisPart of the whānau: the emergence of takatāpui identity – He whāriki takatāpui (2017)
Doctoral advisorRawinia Higgins
Ocean Mercier

Kerekere is also an artist and graduated from EIT with a Bachelor in Māori Visual Arts (Te Toi o Ngā Rangi).[3] In 2000 in her role of Te Kairuruku, Ngā Kaupapa Māori at Dowse Art Museum she curated an exhibition called Kaumatua Anō te Ātaahua: Honouring the Gifts of our Elders.[7]

Education

Throughout her studies at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Kerekere focussed on mana tūpuna (ancestors), mana wāhine (women) and mana takatāpui (the right to live and love regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity) and was the only degree graduate to have a solo exhibition.[3] After graduating from EIT, Kerekere spent the following five years researching the development of takatāpui identity in the 21st century at Victoria University of Wellington,[3] arguing that pre-colonial Māori were sexually experimental people who openly accepted gender and sexual fluidity,[8] and completing a PhD in 2017.[9]

Politics
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
2020–present 53rd List 9 Green

Kerekere stood in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand in the 2017 New Zealand general election. She placed third of three candidates with 1,924 votes.[10]

Kerekere contested Ikaroa-Rāwhiti for the Green Party again in 2020.[11][12] Although she did not win Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, Kerekere entered Parliament on the party list.[13]

Family

Kerekere's father is an artist including being a master carver, the late Karauria Tarao (Bison) Kerekere.[14]

References
  1. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  2. "Event - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. "Life for multi-media artist Elizabeth Kerekere is very much a planned affair". EIT Hawke's Bay and Tairāwhiti. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  4. "Dr Elizabeth Kerekere". Māori Television. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  5. Kerekere, Elizabeth (2015). "Takatapui" (PDF). Mental Health NZ.
  6. "Takātapui". New Zealand LGBTI Awards. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. Kaumātua : anō te ātaahua = Honouring the gifts of our elders. Kerekere, Elizabeth., Twist, Nicholas., New Zealand. Te Puni Kōkiri., Lower Hutt (N.Z.). Dowse. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Te Puni Kōkiri. 2001. ISBN 1-86953-513-8. OCLC 53315308.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. Harris, Sarah (2 October 2017). "Elizabeth Kerekere speaks on Maori LGBTQ term takatāpui". ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  9. "About the author". Rainbow Youth & Tīwhanawhana Trust. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  10. "Official Count Results – Ikaroa-Rawhiti". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  11. "Ikaroa-Rāwhiti - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. Manhire, Toby (25 May 2020). "Green Party list ranking revealed: can this group lift them over the threshold?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  13. "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result Successful Candidates". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  14. "Artists Infiltrate Parliament". The Big Idea. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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