Whatarangi Winiata

Ngāti Raukawa

Ngāti Pareraukawa

1935 - 2026

Winiata was born at Hokio and was educated at Horowhenua College and Victoria University. In 1957 he was the second Māori to graduate with a degree of Bachelor of Commerce. He was elected to the committee of the Wellington Accountant Students’ Society and in 1959 was elected to be the Society’s President. Following his graduation he began working as a public accountant for a Wellington firm of accountants. He was awarded an international Rotary Foundation Fellowship for study abroad for the 1960-61 academic year; he attended the School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. He was awarded a Ngarimu V.C. Scholarship for post-graduate study which he used to continue study in the United States from 1961-62 and1962-63, during which time he completed a Doctorate in Business of Administration at Canada. After a period of teaching in Canada, he headed Business Administration at Victoria University and also taught at Te Wananga o Raukawa. His qualifications include FCA, B.Com, MBA and PhD. 'Professor Whatarangi Winiata, who passed away on June 3, 2026, aged 90. A giant of the Māori world, he was described as "he taniwha hikuroa", a taniwha with a long tail, and "a towering intellect with a soft voice". "His enduring legacy is cultural, educational, and political....He was the driving force behind Whakatupuranga Rua Mano in 1975, a tribal survival strategy for the confederation of Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Raukawa, and Ngāti Toa - or ART. His articulation of the vision of the elders of the time inspired similar existential action in many other tribes.....One o the core beliefs of the Whakatupuranga Rua Mano vision was the revival of te reo Māori. At that time, of about 30,000 members of the ART Confederation, only one person under 30 spoke the language....Within three Christmases, Whatarangi's children spoke te reo better than he did. The children have extended that commitment within their own families. Over 50 years, the entire ecosystem created by Whakapuranga Rua Mano has fostered a healthy Māori-speaking population within the Ōtaki community and far beyond....Whatarangi was a visionary architect who knew how to structure institutions to be Māori in form and function. He brought an accountant's eye for scrutiny to what was described at the tangi as his "towering intellect with a soft voice". He deployed unassailable logic and an irresistible spirit. His efforts led directly to the creation of Te Wānanga o Raukawa, which in turn inspired other centres of Māori intellectual excellence. He was behind the establishment of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori. He changed the constitution and thereby the place of Māori within the Anlican Church. He was the first president of the Māori Party.

Biographical sources

  • Te Ao Hou 30 (1960): 19.
  • Te Ao Hou 31 (1960): 58-59.
  • Stephes, Tainui. "Refelctions: Whatarangi Winiata: He taniwha hikuroa." 28 June, 2026. E-Tangata. https;//e-tangata.co.nz/refelctions/whatarangi-winiata-he-taniwha-hikuroa/

    Non-fiction

  • The Survival of Māori as a People. Whatarangi Winiata and Daphne Luke. Wellington, NZ: Huia Publishers, 2022.
  • A collection of twenty-five papers by Winiata and co-authors published over forty years

    Other

  • "Generation 2000: An Experiment in Tribal Development." He Mātāpuna: A Source: Some Māori Perspectives. NZPC No. 14. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Kaunihera Whakakaupapa mō Aotearoa/New Zealand Planning Council Dec. 1979. 69-73. Rpt. 1989.
  • Winiata discusses the tribal development plans - Whakatupuranga Rua Mano: Generation 2000 - of the Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa and Te Atiawa tribes and their eighteen hapu in three broad areas: Raukawatanga, Toatanga, and Atiawatanga Mission; Education Mission; and Pākehā Mission. This is a shortened version of Whakatupuranga Rua Mano-Generation 2000: An Experiment in Tribal Development.
  • "Economic Viability And The Growth Potential Of Incorporations." Trends In Ethnic Group Relations In Asia And Oceania. Paris, Fra.: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1979. 231-266.
  • In this paper Winiata explains economic viability and its relationship to positive, zero and negative growth. He evaluates the Māori incorporations by looking at their recent financial performance and considers their economic viability. He presents a detailed case study of the Waerenga East and West Blocks from 1956-72 and analyses the shareholder returns for the six years leading up to 31 December 1973. The paper concludes with four appendices entitled ‘Waerenga East and West Blocks: balance sheet as of 30 June 1973’, ‘Waerenga East and West Blocks: statement of estimated current market value of assets and statement of liabilities charged assets as of 30 June 1973’, ‘Accounting for the purchase of shares by the incorporation’ and ‘[Four] Examples of tax calculations’.
  • "Appendix III: Raukawa Trustees, Raukawa District Council and Other Māori Bodies in the Raukawa Region: Māori Representation and Political Influence." Māori Representation Conference, Tuurangawaewae Marae, 26-27 April, 1985: Nga Tumanako. Sponsored by NZ Māori Council. Ed. Ranginui Walker. [Auckland], N.Z.: Centre for Continuing Education, U of Auckland, 1985. 19-21.
  • In this paper Winiata outlines three of the twenty-nine recommendations of the Raukawa Trustees and the Raukawa District Council concerning Māori political representation. In summary the recommendations involve implementing ‘ways to restore the principle of one iwi/one vote in the major institutions of Aotearoa’, establishing a senate composed of equal numbers of Māori and non-Māori ‘to monitor all proposed legislation to ensure that it is consistent with and not repugnant to the Treaty of Waitangi’, and to ‘revamp[ing]’ the New Zealand Māori Council and securing adequate funding for it.
  • "The Broadcasting System: As We Have It." Tu Tangata 29 (Apr./May 1986): 8-9.
  • In this comprehensive article, Winiata writes that ‘Māori participation in the broadcasting system has been largely passive as viewers or listeners or both.’ Winiata discusses the action of the New Zealand Māori Council in establishing the Aotearoa Broadcasting System Incorporated to remedy the disparity in a broadcasting system which supposedly should reflect the Māori component of the New Zealand identity. Winiata presents details of the application by the Aotearoa Broadcasting System Incorporated (ABS) for the third television station warrant and outlines how the constitution and management of ABS would be composed.
  • "The Treaty of Waitangi and Resource Management: Resource Management Seminar Series." Public Sector 11.4 (Dec. 1988): 11-13.
  • In this address Winiata discusses Māori tino rangātiratanga of the major resources of New Zealand as endorsed by the Treaty of Waitangi and states that to ‘acquiesce in the sharing of tino rangātiratanga is to rewrite the Treaty.’ Winiata argues that the scope of the Resource Management Law Review is too limited when the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi is examined in its full application and advocates the need for greater Māori involvement in the highest levels of government. Winiata calls for a system of two legislatures: ‘one based on tikanga Māori and the other on tikanga Pakeha with a senior chamber, with membership representing each of the tikanga on a 50/50 basis, to screen proposed legislation coming from either of the two legislatures.’ This paper is an edited version of Winiata’s address in the Seminar Series on Resource Management organised by the Wellington, N.Z. Branch of the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration in July 1988.
  • "National Māori Congress." Te Iwi o Aotearoa 42 (Mar. 1991): 3.
  • Winiata outlines the Government expenditure for the year ending 30 June 1991, comments on the Māori percentage and discusses the limited recognition of Tikanga Māori amongst senior public servants and the House of Representatives, and the limited amount of Māori management of Māori affairs.
  • "Developing Economies." The Treaty of Waitangi: Towards 2000: A Collection Of Papers From The 1995 Lecture Series Organised By The Centre For Continuing Education/Te Whare Pukenga, Victoria University Of Wellingon/Te Whare Wananga O Te Upoko O Te Ika A Maui. Wellington, N.Z.: Centre for Continuing Education, Victoria U of Wellington, N.Z., [1995].
  • In the introduction to this paper Winiata discusses Māori-Tauiwi economic interconnection in the nineteenth century, and goes on to discuss duality in New Zealand economy in the different treatment afforded Māori and Tauiwi statistics and information gathering services. He also assesses prospects for the Māori economy, hapu planning and development, and constitutional development
  • Te Ao Hou 30 (1960): 19.
  • Reference to Winiata receiving an international Rotary Fellowhip to study abroad.
  • "Rotary Foundation Fellow and Ngarimu V.C. Post-Graduate Scholar." Te Ao Hou 31 (1960): 58-59.
  • A biographical account of Winiata’s scholastic and sporting successes, and his overseas study plans as a recipient of the Rotary Foundation Fellowship and Ngarimu V.C. Post-Graduate Scholarship.