Te Awa Puketapu
2022 Cohort
Pronouns: she/her
Te Awa is looking at the next 40 years of te reo Māori revitalisation, prioritising language concepts, sovereignty and access, and decolonising how reo Māori is used in bilingual settings.
Te Awa Puketapu is Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti Ruapani and Te Atiawa. Based in Lower Hutt, Aotearoa, she is Chief Māori Advisor at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in Wellington. Here she provides advice and guidance on engaging with Māori whānau (family) and tamariki (children).
Te Awa was one of the first five children taught in a Kohanga Reo (Māori language preschool), following the movement’s inception in 1982, and was raised by her grandmother speaking only te reo Māori. This has positively impacted the way she analyses and processes information, situations and experiences. It has also created her desire for Māori solutions to be driven by Māori. Her whānau has been very involved in te reo language revitalisation – the Tu Tangata program supporting Māori students’ school success – and the Kokiri movement that is growing Māori services within communities. As educators and leaders, their focus has been on Māori solutions that create opportunities now and in the future for whānau and mokopuna (grandchildren). This has led to her also being an educator, and continuing her whānau‘s legacy by being a good role model to her children, nieces, nephews and iwi. Underpinning her whānau’s educational work has been challenging governments to remember and uphold their Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations while working and living in reciprocity.
“My aspiration is to realise the power of the Māori language and worldview as solutions for whānau (family) wellbeing, sovereignty and leadership.”
Social change work
Te Awa’s social change project explores how te reo Māori underpins and drives whānau wellbeing, agency and sovereignty. This includes how Māori can have agency within their communities in a way that genuinely reflects the intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and how to address systemic barriers preventing this from happening. Bringing people on this journey is critical for Te Awa. It means growing rangatahi (youth) leaders and giving early and ongoing opportunities for their voices and experiences to be heard.