Tupou Manapori

Tupou Manapori
MNZM QSM
Academic work
InstitutionsManukau Institute of Technology, Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate

Tupou Here Tamata Manapori MNZM QSM is a Cook Island New Zealand teacher and Cook Islands Māori language advocate. In 1999, Manapori was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local-body and community affairs. In 2009, she was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for services to the Pacific Islands community.[1] In 2021 the Ministry for Pacific Peoples awarded her a Cook Islands Language Champion award.

Early life and education

Manapori was born in Manihiki in the Cook Islands, where she lived with her grandparents.[2][3] She qualified as a home economics teacher, and moved to New Zealand in 1968.[2][3] She lives in Māngere with her husband and three children.[3]

Career

Manapori worked as a high school teacher, teaching technology, and later languages, at Kōwhai Intermediate School and Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Ōtara.[3][4] Manapori advocated the Cook Islands Māori language to be recognised through an NCEA qualification, and Hillary College became the first school to offer NCEA-level Te Reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani.[4] After retiring from high school teaching, Manapori taught at Manukau Institute of Technology.[5]

Manapori served on the Ōtara Community Board for sixteen years.[3] In 1983 she stood for the local council, and was elected to Manukau City Council in the Ōtara ward. She was the first Pacific Islands councillor elected in Manukau, and served on council until 1992.[6][3] Manapori was a founding member and Chair of the council's Pacific Islands Advisory Committee, which was formed in 1991 to give advice to the council on issues affecting the Pacific community.[3]

Honours and awards

In the 1999 New Year Honours, Manapori was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local-body and community affairs.[7] In the 2009 New Year Honours, she was awarded a Queen's Service Medal for services to the Pacific Islands community.[1] In 2015 she was awarded a Pacific Community Leadership Award at the inaugural SunPix Pacific Peoples’ Awards.[8] During Cook Islands Language Week in 2021 Manapori was awarded by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples as one of five Cook Islands Language Champions.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "New Year Honours List 2009 | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Tupuo Manapori, oral history, 2010". kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Udanga, Romy (6 May 2009). "Voice for Pacific peoples". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Acknowledging Cook Islands language pioneers". Ministry for Pacific Peoples. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Mama Tupou Manapori QSM - Pacific Media Network". omny.fm. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  6. ^ Ringer, Bruce (2014). "AN OTARA TIMELINE: SIXTY YEARS IN OTARA, 1955-2014". Auckland Libraries. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  7. ^ "New Year Honours List 1999 | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 31 December 1998. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Dr Joe Williams ticking all the boxes | PMAGroup". pmagroup.org.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2024.