Ranginui Walker

Walker was born in 1932 into a farming family. He was a member of the Whakatōhea tribe of Ōpōtiki in the Bay of Plenty.[2]

Walker attended St Peter's Maori College, Auckland, Auckland Teachers' Training College and the University of Auckland. He worked as a primary school teacher for 10 years.[2]

Walker was a member of Māori activist group Ngā Tamatoa and Secretary of the Auckland District Māori Council from 1969 to 1973 and chairman from 1974 to 1990.[2]

He eventually became the Professor and Head of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland.[3]

In 2003, Walker became a member of the Waitangi Tribunal.[4] He held a strong belief in Maori Identity, and had stated that William Hobson's declaration that "He iwi tahi tātou", meaning "We are now one people", in the Treaty of Waitangi, was a cultural attack on the indigenous people of New Zealand.[5]

In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Walker was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori.[6] When the New Zealand government restored titular honours in 2009, he declined redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[7]

In 2009, Walker received a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement[8]

Following Walker's death in 2016, Prime Minister John Key said Walker was "not only an insightful commentator on important historical and contemporary issues but was a tireless and passionate advocate for Maori".[2]

Walker published a number of books, including:

• Perceptions and Attitudes of the New Generation of Maoris to Pakeha Domination (1981)
• History of Maori Activism (1983)
• The Treaty of Waitangi (1983)
• The Political Development of the Maori People in New Zealand (1984)
• The Meaning of Biculturalism (1986)
• Nga Mamae o te Iwi Maori: Te Ripoata o te Hui i Turangawaewae (1987)
• Nga Tau Tohetohe The Years of Anger (1987)
• Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou / Struggle Without End (1990) Second Edition (2004)
• Liberating Maori from Educational Subjection (1991)
• Nga Pepa a Ranginui The Walker Papers (1997)
• He Tipua The Life and Times of Sir Apirana Ngata (2001)
• Opotiki-Mai-Tawhiti Capital of Whakatohea (2007)