Aroha Harris was born in Auckland and was educated at Freyberg Memorial Primary School, Rangeview Intermediate School, St Joseph’s Māori Girls’ College, and Auckland Girls’ Grammar School in her seventh-form year. She continued her studies at the University of Auckland where she graduated with a B.A. in Māori Studies. Aroha is currently a historical researcher working for the Waitangi Tribunal Division, Justice Department. She is working on a collection of poems and in 1991 received a Te Ataarangikaahu Commemorative Literary Award in the Poetry category. Aroha writes "I have been employed as a researcher by the Waitangi Tribunal Division for two years. Prior to my employment here, I worked as an advisory officer for the Māori Land Court at Whangarei. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Māori Studies from the University of Auckland in 1989."
Biographical sources
- Crown Acquisition of Confiscated and Māori Land in Taranaki 1872-1881. Waitangi Tribunal Research Series No.1. Wellington, N.Z.: Waitangi Tribunal Division, Department of Justice, 1993. vi.
Fiction
- "Me and Uncle Dadda." Huia Short Stories 1997. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 1997. 107-110.
- "Paenga and Julz." Huia Short Stories 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 1999. 127-131.
- "The Truth About The Hero." .” Huia Short Stories 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 1999. 133-137.
- "One Night." Huia Short Stories 4: Contemporary Māori Fiction. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2001. 103-110.
Non-fiction
- Crown Acquisition of Confiscated and Māori Land in Taranaki 1872-1881. Waitangi Tribunal Research Series No.1. Wellington, N.Z.: Waitangi Tribunal Division, Department of Justice, 1993.
- A Waitangi Tribunal commissioned report of the Taranaki claim (Wai 143) dealing with the identification of "lands purchased by the Crown by deeds of cession and under the ‘takoha’ system between 1863 and 1879". Harris states that the "report reviews the processes used by the Crown in the provincial district of Taranaki, 1872-1881, to acquire confiscated land and customary land from Māori." The report is composed of an Introduction and seven chapters titled "After the War: Moves to Settle Confiscated Land"; "The Parris Process: Implementing maclean’s Instructions using Deeds of Cession"; "Outside the Confiscation: Acquistions by Parris required to be taken through the Court"; "The Transition: The Change from Deeds of Cession to Takoha"; "The Brown Process: Implementing Mclean’s Instructions by Paying Takoha"; "Outside the Confiscation: Acquistions by Brown Required to be taken through the Court"; and "Appraisal". It concludes with Appendix and Bibliography.
- New Avenues For Crown Funded Social Science Research: A Report To The Chief Scientist Of The Ministry Of Research, Science And Technology. Wellington, N.Z.: The Ministry, [1994]
- By Health Research and Analytical Services, prepared by Lesley Middleton, Ian Hodges and Aroha Harris.
- Hikoi: Forty Years of Māori Protest. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2004.
Poetry
- "Complaint." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writer’s Annual Magazine. Ed. Haare Williams. 2 (1978): 10.
- This poem, written when the poet was still at primary school, tells of the "frozen world of/sorrow and shame" within a child’s mind when confronted with a complaint.
- "Tangi." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writer’s Annual Magazine. Ed. Haare Williams. 2 (1978): 10.
- A brief description of the free-flowing grief at a tangi.
- "A Thought." Te Kaea 5 (1981): 26.
- This poem was written while Harris was at primary school. It describes the process of a thought being transformed into a poem.
- "Eulogy for the Good Woman." Kapiti Poems Six: A Collection. Pukerua Bay, N.Z.: Rawhiti Press, 1992. 46.
- The poet reflects on the self-sacrifice of women in marriage and in raising children.