Kirianahera Jarden was born in Christchurch and was educated at Aranui High School. She graduated with B.A. in Political Science at the University of Canterbury in 1991 and is currently doing a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University. Kirianahera has been a member of Te Aka Toki. Her writing has mainly been confined to academic papers but she would like in the future to write about cultural perceptions of the landscape. Kirianahera is a mother of four children.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Kirianahera Jarden, 2 August 1998.
Non-fiction
- "Education: Making a Māori Underclass." Race Gender Class 13 (1992): 20-25.
- Jarden examines the aspects of New Zealand’s colonial history, particularly the land legislation and education policies which subverted Māori cultural traditions and which have had a huge impact on the current economic position of Māori. Jarden contends that there has been a ‘deliberate manipulation of Māori into an underclass’; she discusses Māori action to counter this through the institution of kohanga reo, kura kaupapa Māori, tribal wananga and Māori Access courses.