FEBRUARY 2024
Hooked on Māori Tania Te Rangingangana Simpson is an author, businessperson, professional director, gardener and mother of two. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill caught up with her after she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours for her services to governance and Māori.
At dinner he would generally tell us in Māori to pass the bread and butter, potatoes, salt and pepper. So, it just seemed normal.” potatoes, salt and pepper. So, it just seemed normal.” He was thrilled when she went to Waikato University to study languages but worried when she changed her major from Japanese to Māori as he was concerned it might not lead to employment. At that time, in the mid-1980s, there were not many options other than to teach the language at schools. Simpson had hoped languages would open the door to international travel but once she started studying Māori, she was hooked. She quickly discovered an interest and passion for the language, the history, its traditions and the Treaty of Waitangi. In 1988, after her graduation from the Māori department, she undertook translations of the letters the university had in its Bishop George Selwyn collection. The letters were written in Māori and sent from 1842 to 1872 to Bishop Selwyn, who spoke the language fluently. Simpson’s work was substantial and formed the basis of the comprehensive and historical background to the letters in the collection. Her next job was with the Housing Corporation which had offices around the country helping Māori to build on their land and to construct kaumātua housing on marae. CON TIN UED ON PAGE 2
In her spare time Tania Simpson enjoys gardening and checking out what is on offer at the local garden centres. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
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he has a five metre inflatable boat with an outboard motor and puts it out into Kāwhia Harbour. Tania Simpson calls the boat her little leisure tripper, something she and her friends can hop into, pull up in nearby bays, have a picnic and go fishing. It is an escape from the corporate world of governance which has been her norm for more than 25 years. “Kāwhia is like a big papakāinga. There’s a lot of family and friends out there.” When you look at the long list of boards and organisations she is and was involved with, it is a fair bet the opportunities for relaxing in Kāwhia are rare. Simpson, 58, who has a bach in Kāwhia but lives in Matangi, was born in Ōtorohanga, grew up in Te Kūiti – where she attended the high school – before leaving to study languages at Waikato University. Her father, a Pākehā, was a diesel mechanic in Te Kūiti and later opened a woodturning factory. Her Māori mother’s tribal affiliations were Tainui, Ngāi Tahu and Ngā Puhi. Accepting the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours for her services to governance and Māori from King Charles was a nice acknowledgement of her Pākehā side, she says. Ten years ago, Kīngi Tuheitia awarded her the rank of Commander in the Order of the Taniwha, a tikanga-based honour system he set up to celebrate the efforts of Māori. It was her father who encouraged she and her late brother to speak Māori at home. He grew up in a predominantly Māori community while her mother grew up in a similar environment in Ōtorohanga. “At dinner he would generally tell us in Māori to pass the bread and butter,
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