Ken Mair is a New Zealand political activist and politician. He has unsuccessfully contested several general elections for

Mana Māori According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

. He was ranked eighth on their

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

in , seventh in , and second in . Mair has acted as a spokesperson for

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

in the area around the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

, and was one of the organisers of the 1995 occupation of

Moutoa Gardens Moutoa Gardens, also known as Pākaitore, is a park in the city of Whanganui, New Zealand. Named after the Battle of Moutoa Island in the Second Taranaki War, it contains a memorial to the battle inscribed "To the memory of the brave men who fe ...

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, in protest at grievances under the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

. Mair is a descendant of Captain Gilbert Mair, who was awarded the

New Zealand Cross (1869) The New Zealand Cross was introduced in 1869 during the New Zealand Wars in New Zealand. The wars were fought between natives of New Zealand, the Māori people, Māori, and forces raised by European settlers known as Pākehā assisted by Britis ...

during

Te Kooti's War Te Kooti's War was among the last of the New Zealand Wars, the series of 19th century conflicts in New Zealand between the Māori and the colonising European settlers. It was fought in the East Coast region and across the heavily forested centra ...

References

External links

Photograph of Mair at Moutoa Gardens protest
Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Māori Party politicians 21st-century New Zealand politicians Mana Māori Movement politicians People from Whangārei Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1999 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2002 New Zealand general election New Zealand people of Scottish descent {{NewZealand-politician-stub