Te Ahua o nga Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti

‘Ko wai o te wā nei, i tua atu rā i a Tā Pou, hei homai i tēnei māramatanga ki a tātou o te ao Māori? Ko Tā Pou he kirikawa ki te ao o te tārai kōrero, o te onetū, ki te ao o te haka, ki te ao o te tikanga, ki te ao o ngā karakia o whakapata, ki te ao o te mau rākau, ā, kitea ake ana i tēnei pukapuka, kirikawa ana anō ki te ao o te tuhi.’

‘Tā Pou is an expert in finding just the right turn of phrase, an orator par excellence, an adept performer and knowledgeable master of the art of haka, customary practice, the incantations and rituals of times past, dexterous in the use of Māori weaponry, and, as this book reveals, equally dexterous with the pen.’

‘Temara is a cultural authority: a tohunga of te reo Māori, oratory, karakia, and tikanga. His scholarship carries both academic rigour and deep lived engagement with Māori oral traditions. This combination allows him to treat Te Kooti’s words not as relics but as living content – something to be engaged with in the present.’

Tā William Te Rangiua ‘Pou’ Temara KNZM (born 1948) was raised by his grandparents in a Māori-language environment in Te Urewera until he was eight years old, when they moved back to Ruatāhuna. He is a professor of Māori Philosophy at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Previously he was a professor of reo and tikanga at the University of Waikato and taught at Victoria University of Wellington (where he also studied). He is a cultural authority on whaikōrero, tikanga and karakia. He has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal since 2008, a member of the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board and former chair of Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe within his iwi, Tūhoe, and is current chair of the Repatriation Advisory Panel at Te Papa. He sits on Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po’s ‘Council of Twelve’. He was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021. His book Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau, published by Auckland University Press, was honoured with the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Award – Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award, celebrating its contribution to te reo Māori and the stories of Tūhoe.