Tamati Kruger

Ngāi Tūhoe

1955 -

Tamati Kruger was born and raised in Ruatoki and is affiliated to Te Urewere, Ngaati Kooura, Ngaati Rongo Hapuu. He was educated at Ruatoki Māori District High School, Tuhikaramea and graduated from Victoria University with a B.A. (Hons.) in Māori Studies, Political Science and Anthropology. He currently lives and teaches Māori in his tribal area. Kruger composes Moteatea, Haka, Whakataukii, and Pepehā Manawawera utilised by local cultural groups for tribal and national festivals. He convenes and leads regulated tribal-based wānanga affirming traditions history and customs. Kruger writes short stories, non-fiction articles, and over the last five years has edited and compiled five language and cultural resource texts for students studying Māori at tertiary and adult education institutions. He was co-author of external review reports for the Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Māori Development, Te Puni Kookiri, the Ministry of Education, and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Kruger wrote scripts for the audio-visual promotions of Te Urewera National Park, Waitangi Reserve and Punakaiki Park for the Department of Conservation and was presenter for the Waiora Production documentary on Māori food titled "Me aa raata taaonga katoa". He facilitates cultural and organisational capacity seminars for tribal-based, public and private sector organisations

Biographical sources

  • Correspondence and phone conversation with Taamati Kruger on 21 Nov. 1992 and 2 Aug. 1998.

    Non-fiction

  • "Te Whare Mihana I Ruatoki. (The Ruatoki Mission House.) Historical Review: Whakatane and Districts Historical Society 25.1 (1977): 59-63.
  • Kruger writes a history of the Ruatoki Mission House which had its origins with Rotu Numia and Deaconess Kathleen Doyle who founded the first missionary school in Ruatoki in 1907. In 1920 a new mission house was constructed and existed as a hostel for girls up till 1935 when the school bus system rendered it redundant. In his appendices Kruger quotes reports taken from the Year Book of the Diocese of Waiapu noting 30 years of activity at the Ruatoki Mission House. He notes the establishment of the Ruatoki Pastorate, and discusses the present usage of the mission house. This article is an abridged form of a research exercise for Māori 302 in the Department of Anthropology at Victoria University.
  • "Ko Taa Taawehi Wirihana Whakamaarama moo Te Tikanga oo Te Kupu - Ringatuu." (He koorero i hopukia ki te teepa. Naa Taamati Kruger i tuhi moo teenei pukapuka.) Te Paanui: a Wikitoria. 2. Ed. W. Parker and J. Malcolm. Wellington, N.Z.: [Victoria UP], 1979. 32-33.
  • A description of the origins of the term Ringatu.
  • "Ihi, Wehi, Wana." Customary Concepts of the Māori. Ed. Prof. Sidney Moko Mead and J. Fleras. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria UP, 1980. 138-146. Rpt. as "The Qualities of Ihi, Wehi and Wana." 2nd ed. 228-236.
  • An essay in which Kruger discusses the meaning and significance of Ihi, Wehi and Wana in Māori oral and performance arts
  • "Te Urewera Audio-Visual Script." Te Urewera. Ed. T. Ulleby. Nelson, N.Z.: Design Centre, Department of Conservation, 1990.
  • An overview of the history of Te Urewera area.

    • Other

  • "Tāneatua." Te Kaea 5 (1981): 5. Rpt. in He Wharekura 36 Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, Ministry of Education, 1992. 26-29.
  • A description of the journeys of the ancestor Taneatua.