Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
7 mins ago
EIT Te Ūranga Waka Senior Lecturer Hiria Tumoana (Ngāi Tūhoe) has been awarded the Te Tohu Reo Māori Award.
EIT Te Ūranga Waka Senior Lecturer Hiria Tumoana (Ngāi Tūhoe) has become the first recipient of the prestigious Te Tohu Reo Māori Award.
Presented by Ako Aotearoa, the Te Whatu Kairangi Awards celebrate outstanding educators who make a profound impact on their learners, their whānau, and the wider community.
Hiria, who will receive the award at Parliament next month, is overwhelmed by the honour.
“It’s amazing. They have a lot of people to work through. So, for someone like me, I must be doing something really good. I think I’m just really privileged and lucky to get this,” the 70-year-old said.
Hiria’s journey with te reo Māori began in Ruatoki, where she was raised in a community where Māori language and culture were central to everyday life.
Te reo Māori was her first language, and it has remained the foundation of her life’s work.
“For me, English doesn’t tell me who I am. Only te reo Māori does that,” Hiria reflects. “I will never stop teaching te reo Māori and hope to continue until my time is up.”
Hiria began teaching Te Reo Māori at Victoria University in 1977.
Since then, she has gone on to gain her BA Honours, train and examine translators for Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission), and co-design and teach te reo Māori on Radio Kahungunu and across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Her passion for revitalising the language has driven her more than 40-year career at EIT, first starting in Wairoa, and now at the Hawke’s Bay campus in Taradale.
Hiria is renowned for her engaging teaching style, which blends humour, tradition, and modern techniques to create an inclusive environment for learners of all ages.
She believes that helping students discover their full potential is her greatest achievement.
“I want them all to be successful and I want them to know their full potential. They don’t always know what they know but when they understand, they feel good about who they are and what they can do.”
Pareputiputi Nuku, Pouarataki, Te Uranga Waka, says: “Hiria is an inspiration to all staff of Te Ūranga Waka, the majority of whom she has taught over the years and now they themselves are teachers”.
“Congratulations Hiria as the inaugural winner of this very significant award. E poho kereru ana mātau i a koe!”
Ako Aotearoa Deputy Director Māori, Dr Joe Te Rito says the proverb, ‘Te puna o te kī, te whītiki o te kī’ describes Hiria most aptly.
“She is an authority on the Māori language, as a native speaker and linguist, and she has a special gift for teaching it. Hiria is an icon for her life-time commitment to the revitalisation and teaching of the language dating back to the 1972 te reo Māori Petition.”
Hiria Tumoana will join the 10 other Te Whatu Kairangi awardees at Parliament on November 4 at the official awards ceremony hosted by the Hon Penny Simmonds, Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills.