Naianga Tapiata

Biography

Naianga Tapiata was raised in Rotorua, near Whakarewarewa, in an environment rich in te the Māori langue, customs, and the principles of Te Aho Matua (Philosophy of Māori mainstream schooling). He grew up with the story of Maggie Papakura, the first Indigenous woman to study at Oxford in 1927, whose journey from their village showed what it means to carry genealogy and knowledge into global spaces.