Ngahinaturae Te Uira was born at Taharoa and was educated at Taharoa and Queen Victoria Māori Girls’ School where she was dux of the school. In 1951 she joined the Māori Affairs Department and later became a Māori Welfare Officer in Te Kuiti and Pukekohe. In 1959 she graduated with a Diploma in Social Science from Victoria University and in 1965 studied social welfare in the U.S.A. for four months on a Foreign Specialists’ travel grant from the US State Department. She was an area representative of the Ikaroa region on the national executive of Māori Women’s Welfare League from In 1968 she became National Supervisor of Social Work Trainees at the State Services Commission. In 1972 she returned to Māori Affairs and became District Māori Welfare Officer for South Auckland. From 1978-1986 she was secretary to the Māori Queen Dame Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu until she was seconded by the Head Office of Social Welfare to become the Director of the Department of Social Welfare Training Centre in 1986. She attended the closing of the Te Māori exhibition in Chicago. In 1988 Te Uira was appointed Area Welfare Officer for the Otara Office of Social Welfare, became acting Director and was appointed Iwi Cultural Officer of the Auckland Regional Office of Social Welfare, a position she retained from 1990 until her retirement in 1992. Te Uira continues working for the Māori Queen as an assistant secretary. She is part of the Tainui Māori Trust Board and assisted in Te Puea Marae at Mangere Bridge up till 1997. She writes speeches and reports and contributed to the Tainui Raupatu Claim. She has been a J.P. since 1978 and has been a member of the Māori Language Commission since 1993.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation and correspondence with Ngahinaturae Te Uira 23 July, 4 August 1998, and 6 November 2004.
- Te Ao Hou 30 (1960): 23.
- Simpson, Terry. “Study Centres in Rotorua.” Te Ao Hou 53 (1965): 10-11.
“People and Places.” Te Ao Hou 72 (1973): 49-50.
- “A First for Miss Te Uira.” Te Māori: The Official Journal of the New Zealand Māori Council 3.1 (1972?): 23.
Non-fiction
- "Ko Te Mahi o Te Piupiu/The Art of Making Piupiu." Te Ao Hou 21 (1957): 24-28.
- Co-authors Rangimarie Hetet and Ina Te Uira.
- "Memories of Our Valley." Te Ao Hou 25 (1958): 32-35, 61.
- Te Uira describes the settlement of Taharoa which is situated nine miles from Kawhia on the west coast of the North Island and she notes that despite its isolation, a thriving communal spirit is engendered through sports activities, weddings, and school functions.
- Te Ao Hou 30 (1960): 23.
- A short note reporting on the graduation of Te Uira and Anne Delamere with Diplomas in Social Science from Victoria University.
- "Come Fly With Me." Te Kaunihera Māori: New Zealand Māori Council Journal 1.2 (1966): 27.
- An account of Te Uira’s four-month trip to America on a US State Department Travel Award in 1965.
- "A First for Miss Te Uira." Te Māori: The Official Journal of the New Zealand Māori Council 3.1 (1972?): 23.
- A short biographical note and tribute to Te Uira’s appointment as District Welfare Officer for South Auckland in the Department of Māori and Island Affairs.
- Taylor, C. H. R. A Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: Clarendon: Oxford UP, 1972. 111.
- "People and Places." Te Ao Hou 72 (1973): 49-50.
- A brief article noting Te Uira’s appointment as a District Welfare Officer in the Department of Māori and Island Affairs.
- "Reviews." Ngahinaturae Te Uira and Ann Parsonson. Rev. of Nga Iwi o Tainui: The Traditional History Of The Tainui People: Nga Koorero Tuku Iho A Nga Tuupuna. Comp. Pei Te Hurinui Jones. Ed. and annotated by Bruce Biggs. New Zealand Journal of History 30.1 (Apr. 1996): 84-86.
- "Behold, A Kite Flies Towards You: The Kingitanga And The ‘Opening’ Of The King Country." New Zealand Journal of History 31.1 (1997): 99-116.
- Co-authors Tui Adams, Ngahinaturae Te Uira, and Ann Parsonson.
- Te Kauhanganui o Waikato 31 January 2004.
- "Staying Māori While Being Educated and Employed in Mainstream Institutions." Jan. – Feb. 2004.
- "Some Life Experiences In Overcoming Problems Experienced By Māori Communities And Individuals." Graduation Ceremony of the Waikato Polytechnic Institute, Founders Memorial Theatre, Hamilton, N.Z. 2 Apr. 2004.
- "The University and Tainui, Celebrating the Past and the Future." Waikato 40th Anniversary Lecture Ser. Waikato, N.Z. 2004.