Matiu Dickson, (

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. Ngāi ...

Ngāti Ranginui Ngāti Ranginui is a Māori iwi (tribe) in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends from Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, to south of Te Puke in the south, and to Tauranga in the east. The rohe does not exten ...

, Te Whakatōhea, May 1952 – 7 April 2016), was born in

Te Puke Te Puke is a town located 18 kilometres southeast of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty of New Zealand. It is particularly well-known for the cultivation of Kiwifruit. Te Puke is close to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa, and Maketu, whi ...

and grew up in a small Māori community on

Matakana Island Matakana Island is located in the western Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. A long, flat barrier island, it is in length but rarely more than wide. The island has been continuously populated for centuries by Māori tribes that ar ...

at the entrance to

Tauranga Harbour Tauranga Harbour is the natural tidal harbour that surrounds Tauranga CBD and the Mount Maunganui area of Tauranga, New Zealand, and which flows into the Pacific Ocean at Mount Maunganui. The harbour is effectively two flooded river systems separ ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Matiu Dickson was Associate Dean Māori in Te Piringa - Faculty of Law at Waikato. He served there from 1996, when he took a position as a lecturer following years of practicing law. Mr. Dickson held a law degree, as well as a post-graduate diploma from Auckland Teachers' College. He was noted by colleagues for his work in Māori activism. As part of that activism, Matiu Dickson served four terms on city councils. Additionally, he chaired the Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa Charitable Trust. Within Te Ao Māori (The Māori World), Matiu was a keen exponent of

Kapa Haka Kapa haka is the term for Māori action songs and the groups who perform them. It literally means 'group' () and 'dance' (). Kapa haka is an important avenue for Māori people to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identi ...

(traditional performing arts). He served as a judge at the national

Te Matatini Te Matatini is a nation-wide Māori performing arts festival and competition for ''kapa haka'' performers from all of New Zealand. The name was given by Professor Wharehuia Milroy, a composite of ''Te Mata'' meaning ''the face'' and ''tini'' deno ...

Kapa Haka Festival. Matiu died suddenly and unexpectedly during the opening ceremony for the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

's new Law and Management building. He is survived by his wife, Helen (married 1983–2016), as well as six children.

References

1952 births 2016 deaths Academic staff of the University of Waikato Ngāi Te Rangi people Ngāti Ranginui people Whakatōhea people People from Te Puke Tauranga City Councillors {{Māori-bio-stub