The new second volume of Tāngata Ngāi Tahu remembers and celebrates the rich and diverse lives of the of Ngāi Tahu people. Spanning time, geography and kaupapa, some fifty biographies bring Ngāi Tahu history into the present.
The people in the book have contributed to their iwi, hapū and whānau in myriad ways: here are wāhine toa, rangatira, community leaders, activists and scholars, fishermen and farmers, sportspeople, weavers, and many more. All are descendants of Waitaha, Ngāti Mamoe and Ngāi Tahu; united by whakapapa, they are Tāngata Ngāi Tahu.
Emphasising the importance of mana wāhine, many of the biographies in Volume Two celebrate the stories of Ngāi Tahu women.
‘Carefully chosen to pay tribute to some of our most valued taua, hākui and tuāhine, this collection of biographies offers inspiring role models for our daughters and granddaughters: he rakatira mō āpōpō!’ — Tā Tipene O’Regan
Making Ngāi Tahu knowledge available to Ngāi Tahu people is central to the work of the Ngāi Tahu Archive. In addition to the award-winning Tāngata Ngāi Tahu biographies project, the Ngāi Tahu Archive team has produced the nationally recognised online Ngāi Tahu digital atlas, Kā Huru Manu (www.kahurumanu.nz), and the online archive database, Kareao (www.kareao.nz).
The book is illustrated with hundreds of photographs sourced from the Ngāi Tahu archive, external institutions and whānau collections. Together these images constitute a tribal family album that is a taonga tuku iho. This second volume builds on the work and success of Tāngata Ngāi Tahu, Volume One (reprinted and available now).
The editors and members of Te Pae Kōrako, 2021. From left: Helen Brown, Atholl Anderson, Tā Tipene O'Regan (chairman), Michael J. Stevens and Puamiria Parata-Goodall.