Repatriation Advisory PanelTe Rōpū Tohutohu

The Repatriation Advisory Panel is made up of respected Māori and Moriori representatives with expert knowledge in repatriation kaupapa, high level government policy, as well as leading initiatives celebrating and reclaiming indigenous customs, practices, arts, and languages.  Panel members are also recognised leaders with mātauranga pertaining to funerary practices and reconnecting to ancestors that have been removed from their whānau and/or wāhi tapu and traded overseas.

The Chair of the panel is Professor Sir Pou Temara (Ngāi Tūhoe), who is joined by panel members Professor Sir Derek Lardelli (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Konohi, Rongowhakaata), Haami Piripi (Te Rarawa), Aroha Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Porou, Te Arawa), Hinerangi Himiona (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), Kiwa Hammond (Moriori, Ngāti Kahungunu), Miria Pomare (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Mutunga, Rongowhakaata) and Kura Moeahu (Te Ātiawa). They advise our Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme.

Importantly the panel has provided strategic guidance on key high-profile initiatives including the repatriation of Toi moko, kōiwi tangata, and kōimi tangata/kōimi tchakat (Moriori skeletal remains) from public institutions in England (2008, 2022), France (2011, 2012), Austria (2015, 2022) and the USA (2014, 2016), as well as setting tikanga Māoriand tikane Moriori protocols when reconnecting with Māori and Moriori ancestral remains housed in overseas institutions, safely guiding them home to Aotearoa, and ensuring they are offered respect and dignity in Te Papa’s wāhi tapu, before they are reunited with their uri.

Past members of the panel have included Professor Sir Hirini Moko Mead (Ngāti Awa), Edward Ellison (Ngāi Tahu), Alfred Preece (Moriori, Ngāti Mutunga), the late Dorothy Mihinui (Te Arawa), the late Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi), the late Sir Paul Reeves (Te Ātiawa), the late Whaea Te Aue Davis (Waikato), the late Whaea Hokimoana Te Rika-Hekerangi (Ngāi Tūhoe), and the late Te Kanawa Pitiroi (Ngāti Tūwharetoa).  In addition to these members the programme has also enjoyed the advice of Maui Solomon (Moriori, Ngāi Tāhu) on kaupapa of significance to Moriori, the support of the late Whaea Hemanawa (Hema) Olive Temara (Ngāi Tūhoe) who provided expert advice to Te Papa regarding tikanga on Te Papa’s national marae called Rongomaraeroa as well as supporting international repatriation work. In addition, Whaea Kataraina Pitiroi (Kahui Ariki o Ngāti Tūwharetoa) provided key advice and assisted her husband Te Kanawa Pitiroi while he was leading repatriation work for the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme.

More information about panel members is highlighted below.

Contact us

To find out more about the Repatriation Advisory Panel, contact:

Te Herekiekie Herewini, Manager of Repatriation
Email: TeHerekiekie.Herewini@tepapa.govt.nz

Sir William Te Rangiua Pou Temara KNZM

Chairman

Professor Pou Temara

Professor Pou Temara is of Tūhoe descent.

Pou is an acknowledged authority on Māori language retention, history, and tikanga. A professor at the University of Waikato, he has written numerous publications and essays on Māori history and issues affecting Māori.

Pou was recently appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal. This tribunal is charged with making recommendations on claims against Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840.

Pou is also:

• Director of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo (Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language)

• a member of the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board

• Chairperson of Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe, an apolitical gathering of Tūhoe that meets twice a year to celebrate Tūhoe performing arts.

Haami Piripi

Haami Piripi

Haami Piripi is of Te Rārawa descent.

Haami is the Chairperson of his iwi authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārawa. He is also former Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission).

Haami is a passionate promoter of the Māori language and has had a lengthy career fostering Māori development in the public sector.

Sir Derek Arana Te Ahi Lardelli KNZM

Derek Lardelli

Sir Derek Lardelli is of Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Konohi (Ngāi Te Riwai), and Ngāti Kaipoho (Ngāi Te Aweawe) descent.

Sir Derek is an internationally recognised artist. He is renowned for promoting excellence in Māori arts, particularly the visual arts and kapa haka (cultural performing arts). Major projects have included design work for Air New Zealand and the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games teams, composition of the All Blacks haka ‘Kapa o Pango’, creation of the Māui sculptures on Mount Hikurangi, and commission works, including for the New Zealand Embassy in Cairo and international companies.

Sir Derek was awarded an Arts Foundation Laureate Award in 2004. In 2007, he coached and led East Coast group Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti to win the national kapa haka championships and gained a Master of Fine Arts (with Distinction) from Canterbury University. In 2008, Sir Derek was honoured as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM).

Derek is involved in numerous community, , national, and international events and is currently:

• a lecturer at Toihoukura (School of Māori Visual Arts), Tairawhiti Polytechnic

• Chairperson of Te Uhi, a tā moko arts collective

• a trustee of Toi Māori Aotearoa (Māori Arts New Zealand).

Aroha Mead

Aroha Mead

Aroha Te Pareake Mead is of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Tūhoe, Tūhourangi, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. She is the Programme Director of Māori Business at the School of Management, Victoria University of Wellington. Aroha teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Treaty claims and settlements, Māori resource management, and Māori and indigenous cultural and intellectual property issues.

Aroha is also the Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy – a multi-disciplinary network of international experts.

While serving as Policy Manager for Te Puni Kōkiri’s Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Issues Unit, Aroha developed the Crown policy on repatriation, which led to the establishment of the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme.