Tama Tūranga Huata ONZM (15 April 1950 – 11 February 2015) was a Māori performing arts leader in New Zealand.
Biography
Born in 1950 of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou descent,[1][2] Huata was the third son of Wiremu Te Tau Huata—a chaplain to the Māori Battalion during World War II—and Ringahora Hēni Ngākai Ybel Tomoana.[3] His maternal grandfather was Paraire Tomoana, the composer of "Pokarekare Ana".[4]
Huata was a central figure in the renaissance of the Māori performing arts.[3] In 1983 he founded the Kahurangi Dance Theatre and Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu (the Takitimu Performing Arts School), and was responsible for the establishment there of the first degree programme in Māori performing arts.[5] In 1985 he was a group leader at the Te Maori exhibition in San Francisco.[3] Awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 1995, Huata travelled to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee to study African history and dance.[3]
Huata was the inaugural chair of Te Matatini Society,[5] and founder of the Waiata Māori Music Awards in 2007.[3]
In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Huata was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori performing arts.[6] In 2012, he received Te Tohu Toi Kē (the "Making a Difference" award) from Creative New Zealand at Te Waka Toi Awards, for his significant contribution to the development and retention of Māori arts and culture.[2]
Huata died at his home in Napier in 2015.[5]
References
