Trevor Hapi Howse was born in South Bay, Kaikoura, the son of Mary-Ann Te Keepa. He grew up in Kaikoura on the Te Hiku O Te Waeroa Reserve. He was educated at Tuahiwi Primary School and Rangiora High School. He was a Māori Warden for fifteen years and has been involved in research for the Ngāi Tahu Trust Board for many years. Howse coordinated all the traditional evidence for the Waitangi Tribunal hearing of the South Island Claim. In July 1988, he addressed the Canterbury Māori Studies Association on "the workings of the Kai Tahu Claim and the Waitangi Tribunal". He is Chair of the South Island Customary, is on the executive of the Recreational Fishing Council of New Zealand, and is chair of the South Islands Eel Industry which consists of customary and commercial fisheries.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Trevor Howse, 4 August 1998.
- "The Ngāi Tahu Claim." Race Gender Class 6 (1987): 24-27.
- Te Karanga: Canterbury Māori Studies Association 4.2 (1988): 39.
Non-fiction
- "The Ngāi Tahu Claim." Race Gender Class 6 (1987): 24-27.
- This article begins with an introduction summarising the major issues in the Ngāi Tahu Waitangi Tribunal claim. Howse notes the specific Ngāi Tahu grievances in regard to Māori land taken for scenic reserves, roads and railway lines without compensation. He writes that the grievances of Kaikoura, North Canterbury and Banks Peninsula Māori have never been addressed by the Crown and that they deserve special attention ‘over and above the lands in Otakou and Kemp’s Deed.’