Kemara Tukukino was born in Paeroa, and was educated at Thames High School and Victoria University in Wellington. He married Putiputi Nuku from Omahu who was of Ngāti Kahungunu and had five children and three grandchildren. He worked for the Māori Affairs Department and then moved to the Department of Justice where he worked in the Courts for forty years in Wellington, including five years as Chief Registrar for the Māori Land Court. He retired at the end of 1995 and returned to Thames. Tukukino was an active member of Ngāti Poneke in Wellington for many years and was one of the leaders of the Mawai-Hakona Māori Club in Upper Hutt which won the Polynesian Festival in Rotorua in the early 1970s. Tukukino was chair of the Orongomai Marae Committee for almost 15 years and is currently a member of the Hauraki Māori Trust Board.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation and correspondence from Kemara Tukukino: 30 July and 4 August, 1998.
- "Wellington Māori Competitions." Te Ao Hou 74 (1973): 31.
Non-fiction
- "It Was Good to be Together: A Reportage of the Māori Springbok Match." Te Ao Hou 16 (1956): 17-19.
- Tukukino gives an overview of a match between the New Zealand Māori team and the Springboks at Eden Park, Auckland.
- "The Māori-French Match Reconsidered." Te Ao Hou 37 (1961): 39+.
- A detailed account of the New Zealand Māori victory over the French Rugby Team at Napier on 29 July, 1961.