Tipene Stephen O’Regan

Ngāi Tahu

1939 -

Tipene O’Regan was born in Wellington where he has lived most of his life. He graduated with B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and History from Victoria University and has a Dip. Teaching and a Trained Teacher’s Certificate from Wellington Teachers’ College. O’Reagan has been a Senior Lecturer in Māori Studies at Wellington Teachers’ College. From 1977-78 he was Q.E.II Post Graduate Scholar in Māori and also Ngāi Tahu Fellow (History) at the University of Canterbury. From 1983-84 he was Visiting Lecturer in Classics at Victoria. In 1986 he was Visiting Lecturer at the University of Southampton and in 1988 was Lister Memorial Lecturer at the University of Otago. From 1986-88 he was Visiting Lecturer in Sociology at Victoria University and from 1989-91 he was Visitor in New Zealand History at the University of Canterbury. In 1991 O’Regan presented the J.C. Beaglehole Memorial lecture at the University of Canterbury and the James Watkins Memorial lecture at Puketeraki. In 1991 he was on the Council of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and in 1992 was awarded D.Litt. He is a former chair of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board, the Mawhera Incorporation, Ngāi Tahu Holdings Corporation, the Sealord Group Ltd, Te Ohu Kai Moana, and was deputy chair of Transit New Zealand. He established the Aoraki Consultancy Services.

In 1992 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in literature from the University of Canterbury, and also holds honorary Doctorates of Commerce from Victoria University and Lincoln University. In 1994 he became a knight bachelor in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors and is Adjunct Professor at Ngāi Tahu Research at the University of Canterbury.

"Sir Tipene O’Regan is the retired Assistant Vice-Chancellor Māori of the University of Canterbury and former long-serving Chairman of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board. He remains an Adjunct Professor in the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury and as a Fellow of the University of Auckland where he chairs Ngā Pae o Te Maramatanga, the Centre for Māori Research Excellence. He holds a D.Litt (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, a D.Comm (Hons) from Lincoln University and a D.Comm (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors and recently retired from a 28 year term as a member of the New Zealand Geographic Board."



Biographical sources

  • Correspondence from O’Regan in Nov 1992.
  • "Sir Tipene O’Regan." http://www.maramatanga.co.nz/person/sir-tipene-o%E2%80%99regan
  • From the Beginning: The Archaeology of the Māori. Ed. John Wilson. Wellington, N.Z.: Penguin in association with New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 1987. 168.
  • "Knighthood Taken in Sir Tipene’s Stride." Chronicle 10.29 (1994): 12.
  • http://www.maramatanga.co.nz/person/sir-t-pene-oregan-chair 9 September 2016

    Films/Video

  • The Natural World of the Māori. Dir. and prod. Ray Waru. TVNZ. [198?].
  • Co-authored and researched with Pat Hohepa.

    • Non-fiction

  • Māori, the Treaty and the Labour Party. Wellington, N.Z.: Victoria UP/Stout Research Centre. No details.
  • "Racial Integration in New Zealand." Dialectic 1.3 (Oct. 1969): 81-90.
  • In this address presented to the Congress of the University Catholic Society in May 1969, O’Regan focuses on racial integration and examines the underlying assimilative assumptions in the Hunn Report, the education arena and the government’s handling of Māori land questions.
  • "Race Relations in New Zealand." Dialectic (1971). No further details.
  • "The Quest For Insights Into Māoritanga." NZ Listener 20 July 1974: 10-11.
  • The transcript of a taped account by O’Regan of his journey to a tangi in Ruatahuna where he met with John Rangihau. O’Regan asked Rangihau to speak about his taha Māori. The text of this tape follows O’Regan’s article and is entitled "I Am A Product Of All That My People Transmit To Me.’
  • "Te Whanganui a Tara - Regional Tradition." Māoritanga in Education Wellington, N.Z.: Education Board, 1975. No further details.
  • "The Best of Both Worlds?" The Zealanders. Ed. J. Siers. N.p: Millard Press, 1975.
  • "The Lore of Possession." NZ Listener 10 May 1980: 28-30.
  • In this discussion about Māori land, O’Regan takes issue with a number of statements made by Hilda Phillips in the Listener of April 5, 1980, in which she disputes what she claims as ‘widespread and popular belief’ that ‘pre-Pakeha Māori tribes maintained uninterrupted possession of their ancestral lands’ and asserts instead that ‘take raupatu took precedence over all other rights in Māori custom’.
  • "Teaching the Teacher." People Like Us: Celebrating Cultural Diversity. Ed. Anthony Haas, Allison Webber and Pam Brown. Wellington, N.Z.: Asia Pacific Books and the N. Z. Govt. Printer, 1982. 111-113.
  • O’Regan discusses the role of the education system in establishing a ‘comprehending tolerance’ for the various cultures within New Zealand and he examines some of the underlying difficulties which hinder this process.
  • "Multicultural Education... - The Future Redeemed? Some Reflections on Multi-Cultural Education and Multi-Culturalism." PPTA Journal Term 2 (1982): 6-8.
  • A discussion of the origins of multicultural education in New Zealand and an assessment of the teaching of multiculturalism.
  • "Māori Perceptions of Water in the Environment: An Overview." Waiora, Waimāori, Waikino, Waimate, Waitai. Papers given to Seminar on Water and the Environment. Hamilton, N.Z.: Centre for Māori Studies, U of Waikato, 1984. 8-17.
  • In this paper and discussion notes O’Regan describes the confluence of spirituality and practicality in Māori response to water and natural resources and writes of Māori conservationism over the last five hundred years. O’Regan highlights inequities in land development schemes and catchment programmes and discusses proposals to overcome these problems. The text concludes with a question and answer session between O’Regan and W. Carlin.
  • "Māori as Inhabitants of the Coastal Zone." Proceedings of Coastal Zone Management Conference. Nelson, N.Z.: Dept. of Lands and Survey, 1984.
  • "The Māori Dimension in the Historic Places Trust." Proceedings 1984 Conference of the N. Z. Historic Places Trust. Wellington, N.Z.: Historic Places Trust, 1984. No further details.
  • "Taonga Māori, Mana Māori." AGMANZ Journal 15.4 (Dec. 1984): 15-18.
  • O’Regan discusses issues raised by the Te Māori exhibition concerning who has control of Māori taonga - Māori or Pakeha museum and gallery officials. He writes of Pakeha appropriation of ‘things’ Māori, evaluates who are the experts in the area of Māori taonga and assesses how to handle inaccuracies published by Pakeha academics and the evaluation of Māori art by ethnologists and art historians.
  • "Māori Perceptions of Historic Preservation & Interpretation." Proceedings of Historical Workshops for National Parks. Wellington, N.Z.: Dept. of Lands and Survey, 1985.
  • "Māoris, Biographies and Dictionaries. Biography in New Zealand. Ed. J. Phillips. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin/PNP, 1985.
  • "Māori Art: A Relationship with the Gods and Nature." Aorangi 4.5 (1985).
  • Te Aroha O Te Waipounamu Opened 27th October, 1985. [N.p]: Omaka Marae Committee [1985?]
  • Co-edited with Laurie Duckworth Yvonne Love, and Moana Starkey.
  • "Māori Perspectives of Anglican History in Aotearoa." Te Ripoata a Te Komihihana mo Te Kaupapa Tika Rua mo Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Appendix P. Wellington, N.Z.: Church of the Province of N.Z., 1986.
  • "The Māori, The Law & Coastal Zone Management." Proceedings of Coastal Zone Management Seminar. Coffs Harbour, NSW, Austral., 1986.
  • "A Summary Overview." Proceedings of a Workshop on Indigenous Forests on Private Land. Wellington, N.Z.: Commission for the Environment, 1986.
  • "Māori Control of Māori Heritage." Archaeological Objectivity in Interpretation. Vol. 2. Proceedings of the World Archaeological Congress, Southampton. London: Allen & Unwin, 1986.
  • "The Faces of Racism." Puao Te Ata Tu. Report - Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare. Appendix 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer, 1986.
  • "Historical Perspective." Puao Te Ata Tu. Report - Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare. Appendix 3. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer, 1986.
  • "Taking Care - The Task of the Kaitiaki." N. Z. Association of Soil Conservators Annual Conference, 1987. No details.
  • "Māori - Tangata Whenua of New Zealand." The New Zealand Book - A Guide to Visitors. Auckland, N.Z.: Murray Dow, 1987. No further details.
  • "Te Kupenga o Nga Tupuna/The Net of Ancestry." From the Beginning: The Archaeology of the Māori. Ed. John Wilson. Wellington, N.Z.: Penguin in association with New Zealand Historic Places Trust, 1987. 21-26.
  • O’Regan writes of the far-reaching importance of whakapapa in linking Māori with Māori, and Māori with other Polynesian groups.
  • "A Māori View of Landscape." N.Z. Journal of Landscape Architecture 2 (1988). No further details.
  • "Māori Development and Devolution." Rauru Kirikiri and Tipene O’Regan. Devolution and Accountability: Studies in Public Administration, No. 34: Proceedings of the 1988 Conference of the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration. Ed. John Martin and Jim Harper. Wellington, N.Z.: GP Books, 1988. 116-123.
  • In the first part of this paper Rauru Kirikiri presents a background to the Green Paper "", which was launched in April 1988. In the second part of the paper Tipene O’Regan comments on devolution in connection with the Treaty of Waitangi and issues of accountability from the perspective of Ngāi Tahu.
  • "The Changes That Will Challenge." Proceedings 1988 Conference. Wellington, N.Z.: Institute of Personnel Management of N.Z., 1988. No further details.
  • "Te Ahua O Te Whenua." The Landscape: Journal of the NZ Institute of Landscape Architects (1988). No further details.
  • "Māori Perspectives of N.Z. History." Proceedings of the NZ Planning Council Seminar - Pakeha Perspectives on the Treaty. Ed. Boag. Wellington, N.Z., 1988.
  • "A Māori Historical Perspective." Proceedings of the NZ Planning Council Seminar - Pakeha Perspectives on the Treaty. Ed. Boag. Wellington, N.Z., 1988.
  • "The Ngāi Tahu Claim." Waitangi: Māori and Pakeha Perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ed. I. H. Kawharu. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1989. 234-262.
  • "Ngāi Tahu: Into the 21st century: The Vision of Tipene O’Regan. " Race Gender Class 9/10 (Dec. 1989): 97-103.
  • O’Regan discusses the composition and runanga of the Ngāi Tahu Trust Board, writes of the board’s response to the Iwi Empowering Bill and the Ngāi Tahu Claim, and the future goals of the board in its pursuit of ‘active participation in the economy of Te Wai Pounamu’.
  • Introduction. He Kōrero Purakau Mo Nga Taunahanahatanga A Nga Tupuna/Place Names Of The Ancestors: A Māori Oral History Atlas. Comp. Te Aue Davis. Illus. Cliff Whiting. Maps by Department of Survey and Land Information. Wellington, N.Z.: The New Zealand Geographic Board, [1990]. xiii.
  • O’Regan writes of the significance of place names within the Māori culture and discusses how ‘[w]hole series of names belong together in groups, commemorating journeys of exploration by an ancestor, the myth memory of how the land was made or a series of traditional events and people relationships.’
  • Foreword. Te Whakatau Kaupapa: Ngāi Tahu Resource Management Strategy for the Canterbury Region. Te Maire Tau, Anake Goodall, David Palmer and Rakiihia Tau. Wellington, N.Z.: Aoraki Press, 1990. xxi.
  • O’Regan writes that this publication ‘has been a major project deriving from the Ngāi Tahu need to clarify and define a Resource Management Strategy’ which has emerged from Waitangi Tribunal hearings which focused on mahinga kai and resources of ‘water, land and habitat’. O’Regan contends that this ‘strategy for the Canterbury region...could well serve as a model for the other regions within our vast rohe of Ngāi Tahu’.
  • "Māori Control of Māori Heritage." The Politics of the Past. Ed. P. Gathercole & D. Lowenthal. One World Archaeological Ser. No. 12. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. No further details.
  • "The Media and the Waitangi Tribunal: The Ngāi Tahu Experience." Between the Lines, Racism and the New Zealand Media. Ed. P. Spoonley & W. Hirsh. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann Reed, 1990. No further details.
  • "The Treaty of Waitangi: Unique in History." The Making of New Zealand. (1990 Commemorative Volume). Wellington, N.Z.: Sheffield House, 1990. No further details.
  • "Taonga In Sperm Whale Ivory Carved By Brian Flintoff Between 1983 And 1985." Mau Mahara: Our Stories in Craft. Based on the exhibition selected by Justine Olsen, John Parker, Cliff Whiting. From a concept devised and developed by Jim and Mary Barr. Auckland, N.Z.: Random Century, 1990. 30-31.
  • Co-authored with Wiremu Te Haere Solomon.
  • Ngā Tohu Pumahara: The Survey Pegs of the Past: Understanding Māori Place Names. Comp. for the New Zealand Geographic Board/Nga Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa by Te Aue Davis, Tipene O’Regan and John Wilson. [Wellington, N.Z.]: The New Zealand Geographic Board, [1990].
  • The authors state that this publication provides a basis for ‘understanding Māori place names in a systematic way. It builds on the pioneer work of one of New Zealand’s greatest literary scholars, H. W. Williams, who as long ago as 1912 set out a framework for a culturally appropriate approach to Māori place names. Subsequently Johannes Andersen in his 1942 book Māori Place-names built on Williams’ work.’ The book is divided into categories dealing with the ‘Hawaiki’ names, place names incorporating people’s names, the descriptive names, and names commemorating Maui. This book was published in association with He Kōrero Purākau mo ngā Taunahanahatanga a ngā Tupuna/Place Names of the Ancestors: A Māori Oral History Atlas.
  • "Māori Fishing Practices." With G. O’Regan. Bearings Magazine Autumn (1991). No further details.
  • "The Role of the Sea in the Polynesian Experience." Le Courrier de l’Unesco. France (1991). No further details.
  • "Who owns the Past?" ibid. 141-145. Rpt. as "Who Owns the Past? Change in Māori Perceptions of the Past." Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 337-340.
  • O’Regan explores Māori perspectives of history and examines issues surrounding the ethics of Pakeha academics recording, collecting and researching Māori history and the changing nature of this process over the last 150 years. O’Regan notes that while in the 19th century Pakeha academics were given a high degree of accessibility into Māori history, in contemporary Māori society there is not the same degree of trust of Pakeha scholars.
  • "Tikao, Hone Taare 1850?-1927." Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 2. 1870-1900. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1993. 540-541.
  • "Taki, Paora ?-1897." Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 2. 1870-1900. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1993. 499.
  • "Old Myths and New Politics." NZ Journal of History 26.1 Auckland, N.Z.: University of Auckland, N.Z., 1992. An extract rpt in Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 149-172.
  • O’Regan discusses the tribal history of the South Island outlining the chronology of the three main streams that make up Ngāi Tahu: Waitaha, Mamoe and Tahu. He describes the curious relationship between law and history that has emerged as a result of Treaty grievances and Treaty claims and he examines the different sources of evidence that have been submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal. In the second half of this paper O’Regan looks at what he terms the ‘post-Tribunal phase,’ including the issues arising after the findings of the Tribunal have been completed and questions of settlement, questions of identifying who is Ngāi Tahu and traditional boundaries, processes of decision-making and maintaining rangātiratanga of Ngāi Tahu history and heritage. He concludes by looking at the emergence of new groups claiming manawhenua rights in the South Island.
  • Foreword. Traditional Lifeways of the Southern Māori. James Herries Beattie. Ed. and introd. Atholl Anderson. Dunedin, N.Z.: U of Otago Press in association with Otago Museum, 1994. 7-8.
  • O’Regan writes of the ‘enormous debt’ modern Ngāi Tahu owe to Herries Beattie in light of Beattie’s huge collections of whakapapa and tribal traditions drawn from southern Māori which he deposited in the Hocken Library. O’Regan also pays tribute to the contribution of Atholl Anderson and asserts that Anderson’s Introduction is ‘arguably, one of the best scholarly treatments of Southern Māori historical and ethnographical sources we are liable to encounter.’
  • "Poroporaki : Wiremu Te Haere Solomon." Te Karaka : the Ngai Tahu magazine (Aut 2001): inside cover, 1-2.
  • "Old myths and new politics : some contemporary uses of traditional history." The shaping of history : essays from the New Zealand journal of history. Judith Binney. Wellington, N.Z. : Bridget Williams Books, 2001.
  • "Ngāi Tahu and the Crown : partnership promised" Rural Canterbury : celebrating its history. Ed. Garth Cant and Russell Kirkpatrick. Wellington, N.Z. : Daphne Brassell Associates and Lincoln University Press, 2001.
  • Resources researcher: Conrad Henson
  • "Steady winds." The Press (10 Sept 2005): D7.
  • "Keep the fires burning : grievance and aspiration in the Ngāi Tahu Settlement." Settling with indigenous people : modern treaty and agreement-making. Ed. Marcia Langton [et al.]. Annandale, N.S.W. : Federation Press, 2006.
  • "The handing of the Pōha." Ngāi Tahu : a migration history : the Carrington text. Ed. Te Maire Tau and Atholl Anderson. Wellington [N.Z.] : Bridget Williams Books ; Christchurch [N.Z.] : Te Rūnanga o Ngai Tāhu, 2008.
  • "Impact on Māori: a Ngāi Tahu perspective." In good faith : symposium proceedings marking the 20th anniversary of the Lands case. Ed. Jacinta Ruru. Wellington, N.Z. : New Zealand Law Foundation ; Dunedin, N.Z. Faculty of Law, University of Otago, 2008.
  • "A vibrant presence." Karaka (Christchurch, N.Z. : Online) (Win 2014): 14-19.

  • Other

  • "Māori Health and Education." PPTA Journal Term 2 (1983): 22-27. Rpt. in Tu Tangata 14 (Oct./Nov. 1983): 22-25.
  • In this interview Peter Tapsell discusses various options that might remedy the high failure rate of Māori young people at school in terms of changes to syllabus. He discusses various ideas for modern marae - making them ‘a modern day learning centre’ with computers, videos and a recreational sports centre and talks briefly about gender roles and equality.
  • Ford, Graham. "Puha and Penguin." NZ Listener 18 July 1987: 26-27.
  • A discussion of the filming and preparation for the television documentary series The Natural World of the Māori.
  • "Tipene O’Regan. Ngai Tahu. Into the 21st Century: The Vision of Tipene O’Regan." Race Gender Class 9/10 (1989): 97-103.
  • Barrett, Ross. "Tipene’s Fish: Netting The South Island." Dominion Sunday Times Sup. 5 Aug. 1990: 12-19.
  • O’Connor, Kevin. "Challenge to Ngāi Tahu." The Dominion Sunday Times 28 July 1991: 9.

  • Papers/Presentations

  • "Conservation, The Treaty and Rangātiratanga." Lister Memorial Lecture. University of Otago, Department of Geography, 1988.

  • Reviews

  • Rev. of Hui: A Study of Māori Ceremonial Gatherings, by Anne Salmond. New Zealand Bookworld 18 (Sept. 1975): 24-25.
  • Rev. of Cultural Difference in the Classroom, by Bernard Gadd, and Learning and Teaching Māori, by T. Rikihana. New Zealand Bookworld 31 (Dec. 1976): 25.
  • Rev. of Children of Tane: New Zealand Birds of the Forest, by Hirini Melbourne. Te Kaea: The Māori Magazine 1 (Dec. 1979): 22-23.
  • Rev. of Art of The Pacific, by Brian Brake, James McNeish and David Simmons. Te Kaea 3 (June 1980): 22-23.
  • Rev. of Māori Dunedin, N.Z., by Maarire Goodall and George Griffiths. Te Kaea 3 (June 1980): 24-25.
  • Rev. of Utu, by Geoff Murphy/Utu Productions. PPTA Journal Term 2 (1983):66.

  • Traditional

  • Whataitai and Porirua. Te Wharekura Wellington, N.Z.: Dept. of Education, 1976.