Monte Ohia was born in Tauranga and was educated at Papamoa Māori School, Mt Maunganui College and Tauranga Boys College. He continued his studies at the Universities of Canterbury, Otago and Massey and graduated with a B.Sc from Canterbury in 1969, a B.A. in History and Linguistics from Massey University in 1980 and an M.Ed. Admin (Hons) from Massey University in 1990.
In 1969 he began working as an assistant teacher at Queen Charlotte College and went on to become an adviser for the Canterbury Education Board and later for the Department of Education in Wellington. In the ensuing years he was appointed to many key senior positions including General Manager of Māori Education for the NZ Qualifications Authority (1990-1996), Director of Māori Education at Tauranga Polytech, and latterly as Te Pou Matua/Kaiarahi for Te Wanaka o Otautahi – Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (2005-2008).
He was Coordinator of the Treaty of Waitangi Claims for Tauranga Moana.
Ohia was raised in the Ratana faith and was an Apostle in the church for some 17 years with responsibility for the church in the top half of the South Island. Ohia became a Christian in 1986, and was involved in establishing a number of house churches for Māori believers. He identified with the Charismatic movement.
His Christian ministry focused on the World Christian Indigenous Movement which is a movement affirming peoples’ indigenous identity and Christian faith. Ohia was involved in the World Conferences of Indigenous People in Rotorua and in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1998 at which he delivered three papers. During the early 1990s, he attended an international conference on mathematics education and presented papers on indigenous mathematics. He wrote a number of papers in the annual publication SAME (Science and Mathematics Education) looking at the whole concept of mathematics and science and how they are relevant to Māori students. He wrote for Te Puni Kokiri magazines of mathematics. Ohia went to an international conference in Quebec on mathematics education in the early 1990s and presented papers on indigenous mathematics. He was married to Linda. Prior to his death he was the Māori Party candidate for the 2008 general election in the electorate Te Tai Tonga.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Monte Ohia, Sept. 1998.
- Māori Party. "Poroporoaki: Rereamoamo Monte Ohia." 12 June 2008.
- http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=113&id=22281 15 Aug. 2008.
- "Māori Party Stawart Monte Ohia Dies." 12 June 2008. http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4581836a24035.html 15 Aug. 2008.
- One Faith, Two Peoples: Communicating Across Cultures Within The Church. Lloyd Martin. Paraparaumu, N.Z.: Salt Company, 1991: 55.
- Turia, Tariana. "Dr Rereamoamo Monte Ohia." 14 June 2008. http://www.maoriparty.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1766&Itemid=104 15 Aug. 2008.
Non-fiction
- Te Reo o Te Taitokerau: He Tirohanga Na Nga Kaimahi. [Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Education, 1988]
- Co-authored with Robert Shaw.
- Case Studies Of Mathematics Education In New Zealand Secondary School Bilingual Units. [Palmerston North, N.Z.]: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Massey University, [1990]
- Co-authored with Mihi Moloney and Gordon Knight.
Other
- Tu Tangata 32 (1986): 29.
- Ohia celebrates the achievement of Greg Matahi Whakataka Brightwell and his team ‘crossing the Pacific for the first time since the great migration.’
- "Māori Spirituality in a Christian Context." One Faith, Two Peoples: Communicating Across Cultures Within The Church. Lloyd Martin. Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand: Salt Company, 1991. 53-67.
- Martin interviews four Māori church leaders, Hone Maxwell, Monte Ohia, Norman Tawhiao and Hapai Winiata, on their views concerning Māori identity and the Christian faith.
Reviews
- "A Māori Elder Teaches." Rev. of ERUERA: The Teachings of a Māori Elder, by Eruera Stirling as told to Anne Salmond. Tu Tangata 2 (Oct./Nov. 1981): 32-33.
Other
- Crean, Mike. "Māori Educationist Retored Confidence." Press 21 June 2008: D17.