Matariki Williams is a

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 ...

curator and writer based in Whakatāne, New Zealand. In 2021, she was appointed Pou Matua Mātauranga Māori, Senior Historian,

Mātauranga Māori Mātauranga (literally ''Māori knowledge'') is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts. ...

at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. She is a member of the

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

, and

Ngāti Hauiti Ngāti Hauiti is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It is centred in the Rangitikei area of the lower North Island. Awa FM is the radio station of Ngāti Hauiti, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and Ngāti Hāua. It began as Te Reo Irirangi O Whanganui ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Williams grew up in Tauranga. She obtained an undergraduate degree in

Māori studies New Zealand studies is the academic field of area studies of New Zealand. Subfields: *History of New Zealand * Literature of New Zealand * Politics of New Zealand *Economy of New Zealand *Culture of New Zealand Institutions in New Zealand: *Vict ...

and history at the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. She pursued a master's degree in Museum and Heritage Studies.

Career

Williams became a Matauranga Maori curator at

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

in late 2016. Williams is co-founder of and co-editor (alongside Bridget Reweti) of ATE Journal of Maori Arts. In 2024, she was involved in New Zealand's delegation to the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

Personal life

As of 2020, Williams has a partner and two children.

Publications

* ''Protest: Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance'' (2019), coauthor * ''Te Manu Huna A Tāne'' (2020), contributor

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand writers New Zealand Māori writers New Zealand Māori women New Zealand curators New Zealand women curators Ngāi Tūhoe people Ngāti Whakaue people Ngāti Hauiti people {{NewZealand-writer-stub