Wiremu Mangai Kaa

Ngāti Porou

1934 -

Wiremu Kaa was born at Maungapohatu and was educated at Taperenui a Whatonga Primary School, and Te Aute College. He attended Ardmore Teachers’ College where he graduated with a Trained Teacher’s Certificate and a Dip Tchg. Kaa studied at Victoria University of Wellington and graduated with a B.A. He worked for seven years as the Adviser for Māori Education in the Wellington region, was Education Officer in the Head Office of the Department of Education for two years, and in 1983 was appointed Director of Māori and Island Education in the Department of Education. He was a Lecturer at Victoria University from 1992 until his resignation in 1999. His areas of special interest were "Te Reo Māori" and "Māori land Lore/Law." In 2000, he was appointed as an Honorary Lecturer at St John’s College in Auckland. After four years in this institution, Kaa is presently the Kaihautu (Manager) of the Tairawhiti branch of the Whare Wananga of the Pihopatanga o Aotearoa. He serves as a member of the Council of the Whare Wananga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and is the present Chairman of the Academic Board.

His current work in managing the Gisborne Tertiary facility for the Whare Wananga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa has motivated him to explore Māori Theological Thought and Māori epistemology. He delivered a paper at the 2004 Sir Apirana Ngata Annual Memorial Lectures in St Mary’s at Tikitiki on the 22 September. The paper was a theological interpretation of the haka “Tihei Taruke” that was composed by Mohi Turei in the 1800s. Kaa is currently exploring and developing a Māori pedagogy within a theological paradigm as an offering to the Whare Wananga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa. As the Archdeacon within the bishopric of the Tairawhiti (East Coast Region from Potaka in the north to Woodville in the south), Kaa also hold the office of Vicar General with responsibilities for supporting the directions and leadership of the present Bishop. He holds a licence under the Bishop to officiate in a range of liturgical activities and to offer pastoral care whenever there is a need and a call for his services. Kaa writes non-fiction articles and children’s stories and has produced publications on the writings of Mohi Turei and Sir Apirana Ngata.



Biographical sources

  • Correspondence from Ven. Rev. Kaa on 14 Nov. 1992, 1 Oct. 1998, 19 and 25 Nov. and 7 Dec. 2004.
  • The Arts Advocate 4 (1993): 20.

    Music

  • Waiata Māori for Schools. Comp. W. Kaa, J. Tangaere, K. Jenkins, and J. Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Wellington, N.Z. Education Board, 1977. Rpt. 1987. Rpt. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1991.
  • This is a collection of 112 waiata written in Māori with English translation and accompanied by a set of cassette tapes.

    • Non-fiction

  • "Policy and Planning: Strategies of the Department of Education in Providing for Māori Language Revival." Living Languages: Bilingualism & Community Language in New Zealand. Ed. Walter Hirsh. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann and the Office of The Race Relations Conciliator, 1987. 55-59.
  • Kaa reflects on the changing status of the Māori language within New Zealand’s education system since European settlement. He states that ‘[a]lthough the present policies and programmes being fostered by the Department had tentative beginnings, they are now receiving greater emphasis and support. The mood of the nation as a whole and the genuine desire of educationists to seek better ways of promoting and maintaining Māori language and culture in the education system through a variety of initiatives, is evidence of a shift in attitude.’ And he asserts that ‘functional use of the language is the real need’.
  • "He Haka te Waka, ko tona Hua, he Wairua Māori." Wiremu M. Kaa. Mai i Rangiatea: Journal of the Whare Wananga o Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa, 2002.
  • "Kua Riro Koe." Te Tu A Te Toka: He Ieretanga No Nga Tai E Wha. Ed. Piripi Walker and Huriana Raven. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington, N.Z.]: Toi Māori Aotearoa, Totika Publications, 2006.

  • Other

  • Walker, Rangi. "The Kokiri Unit." Tu Tangata 6 (1982): 6-7.
  • In the first half of this article, Rangi Walker presents a history of the Department of Māori Affairs beginning with its precursor, the Native Protectors who were instituted in 1841 ‘to ensure that Māori rights as embodied in the Treaty of Waitangi were safeguarded.’ Walker writes that some fifteen years later this role was compromised when the Native Secretary’s office was amalgamated with the Native Land Purchase Department and land purchases took precedence over the role of protecting Māori rights. Walker notes that it ‘was not until World War II that the department extended its functions to welfare work.’ and in 1977 the Department of Māori Affairs began to be restructured and Kara Puketapu’s concept of Kokiri or community administration was put into action. The second half of this article is largely composed of comments by Willie Kaa on the development of Wellington’s kokiri units.
  • Hikurangi. Wellington, N.Z.: Tautoko Series, Learning Media, 1992.
  • "Maunga Hikurangi." Na Wiremu Kaa ténei kōrero mo āna mokopuna a Mererangi rāua ko Hoana i te whakahokinga mai o Hikuranga Maunga ki te iwi o Ngāti Porou i te marama o Poutu-te-rangi, 1991. Te Tautoko 17. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1992. 6-11.
  • "Mahi Whakatutu: Jim Moriarty." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Nga kōrero a Kim ki a Simon Garrett. Na Peter Dinnan nga whakaahua. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 6-11.
  • "Te Ana a Mataura." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na Kerry Gemmill nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 12-15.
  • "Alf Banks te Tino Taniwha o Waiapu." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na David Burke nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 16-21.
  • "I kite Mārika a Pāpā i te Taniwha." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na Gus Hunter te pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 22-23.
  • "Ka Tutaki a Jim Clews ki te Taniwha." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na Kerry Gemmill te pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 25.
  • "Ke Kai Anō te Taniwha." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na Miranda Witford nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 26-29.
  • "I Oma te Kai a te Taniwha." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Stanley Hovell. Na Gus Hunter te pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 30-31.
  • "He Kōrero mo te Mahi Tuna." Na Ereti Collier, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Gus Hunter nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 6-7.
  • "Te Mātau Tuna Mōkai." Na Ereti Collier, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Gus Hunter nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 18. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1993. 8-9.
  • "Nga Awa O Te Takiwā O Waiapu." Na Wiremu Kaa. Te Tautoko 22. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 20-30.
  • "He Kōrero mo Toddy." Na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori nga tuhi Pākehā a Ereti Collier. Na Gus Hunter nga pikitia. Na Ereti Collier nga tuhi Pākehā. Na Miranda Witford te pikitia. Te Tautoko 21. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 6-11.
  • "Mo te Rohe o Waiapu: He Kōrero Tuturu mo te Turehu." Na Ereti Collier, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Miranda Whitford nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 22. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 2-5.
  • "Te Mahi Tuna i te Taha o Aku Tungāne." Na Ethel Tawhiri, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Jenny Rendall te pikitia. Te Tautoko 22. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 10-11.
  • "Te Puna Wai i Taumata." Na Harata Taingahue, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Gus Hunter nga pikitia. Te Tautoko 22. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 12-13.
  • "Te Motokā Tuatahi ki Rangitukia." Na Tom Waikari, na Wiremu Kaa i whakaMāori. Na Wol Jobson te pikitia. Te Tautoko 22. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1994. 14-15.
  • Ngā Kōrero a Reweti Kohere Mā. Nga Etita ko Te Ohorere rāua Ko Wiremu Kaa. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Victoria UP, 1994.
  • Apirana T Ngata, ana tuhinga I te Reo Māori. Nga Etita ko Wiremu rāua ko Te Ohorere Kaa. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria UP, 1996.
  • Mohi Turei, ana tuhinga I te Reo Māori. Nga Etita Ko Wiremu rāua ko Te Ohorere Kaa. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria UP, 1996.