“Sir Matiu has been a bold and tireless leader for local iwi, Ngāti Toa Rangatira,” says University Chancellor Neil Paviour-Smith.
“He is the long-serving executive director of its administrative organisation, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, and is held in high regard for his business and legal acumen.
“Sir Matiu has spent his career dedicated to improving outcomes for Māori, and the University community is delighted to honour one of our alumni in this way,” says Mr Paviour-Smith.
Sir Matiu, who also has tribal affiliations to Ngāti Koata, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue and Ngā Ruahine, became involved in the early stage of Ngāti Toa Rangatira’s Treaty of Waitangi claim in the 1980s, seeing it through to the end of the Treaty settlement process in 2012.
This complex claim, in which Sir Matiu served as the iwi’s chief negotiator, resulted in a final agreement that included financial compensation of approximately $75 million, cultural redress, an apology from the Crown, and facilitated the iwi in pursuing special legislation to acknowledge the significance of the haka ‘Ka Mate’ to Ngāti Toa history, culture, and identity.
In addition to this role, Sir Matiu chaired Te Ohu Kaimoana for several years, where he advanced Māori interests in the marine environment—an area in which he has been particularly influential. He chaired the pan-iwi group to challenge the Crown’s authority of the foreshore and seabed during the 1990s.
Sir Matiu is also a champion for Māori education. He is a founding member and purutanga mauri of New Zealand’s first Māori tertiary education institution, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, and is a trustee and chair of its Foundation.
As an adult, his passion for education led him to become a fluent speaker of te reo Māori and he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Studies at the University in 2000, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Information Systems from Massey University in 2006.
His many accomplishments were acknowledged in 2016, when he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Sir Matiu Rei will receive his honorary doctorate during a graduation ceremony at Te Herenga Waka Marae on Friday 13 December.
Whiringa-ā-Rangi 2019
Ka whakanuia e te whare wānanga, e Te Herenga Waka, tētahi o ngā kaumatua o te rohe.
Hei te marama e tū mai nei whakawhiwhia ai te Tohu Kairangi Hōnore ā Ture ki a Tā Matiu Rei.
E ai ki te Manukura o te Te Herenga Waka, ki a Neil Paviour-Smith,
“He tino toa, manawanui a Tā Matiu mō tōna iwi mō Ngāti Toa Rangatira. Ko ōna pūkenga pakihi me te matatau ki te ture e mōhiotia whānuitia ana.”
Kua māturu ōna werawera, kua whakapau kaha ia ki te hiki ake i te ngoi mō te ao Māori, nā reira, e harikoa nei te whānau o Te Herenga Waka ki tēnei o āna tauira tawhito.
Me whakanui ka tika!
Ko ētahi atu o ōna karangatanga iwi, ko Ngāti Koata, ko Ngāpuhi, ko Ngāti Whakaue me Ngā Ruahine. Ko ia tētahi i uru atu ki te kōkiri i te kerēme a Ngāti Toa Rangatira i ngā tau waru tekau, ā, tae noa ki tōna mutunga i te tau rua mano tekau mā rua.
Ko ia te kaiārahi, kaikōkiri i tēnei kerēme me ōna kōpikopikotanga, ā, i te mutunga ko te whakataunga, e whitu tekau mā rima miriona tāra, ko te whakahoki i te mana o āna tikanga, me te whakapāha a Te Karauna. Nāna anō hoki i whakahau tōna iwi ki te whai i tētahi ture hou e whakamana ana i te hiringa o te haka (a tōna tipuna a Te Rauparaha) a ‘Ka Mate’ ki te hītōria, ki ngā tikanga me tōna tūākiri.
Tāpiri atu ki ēnei, mō ētahi tau ko Tā Matiu te tiamana o Te Ohu Kaimoana, ā, mō ētahi tau i kōkirihia e ia ngā hua kia puta ki te ao Māori i te rohe o Tangaroa. Ko ia i te kei o te waka o ngā iwi ki te tohe ki te Karauna mō te mana ki te takutai moana me te papa moana.
He toa ia mō te mātauranga Māori, ā, ko ia tētahi o te tōpū i waihanga i te wānanga motuhake Māori tuatahi i Aotearoa nei, arā, Te Wānanga o Raukawa. Ā, ko ia hoki tētahi o ngā kaitiaki me te tiamana o te Tūāpapa Toha Pūtea.
Ka taipakeke ia ka tokomauri ake tana ngākau ki te ako i te reo ka whai i tana Tohu Paetahi i Te Kawa a Māui i te tau rua mano. Kātahi ka whai i te Tohu Pokairua Tāura Pakihi i Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa i te tau rua mano mā ono.
Mō te tini o āna mahi me ōna pūkenga ka whakawiwhia ia ki te tohu Tā o Aotearoa.
Hei te Rāmere 13 o Hakihea whakapōtaetia ai a Tā Matiu Rei ki tōna Tohu Kairangi Hōnore ki te marae o Te Herenga Waka.