Miriama Evans ( Ngāti Mutungā,

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

; 19 February 1944 – 15 August 2018) was a New Zealand civil servant and publisher.

Biography

Evans was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1944; her father was a member of

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...

iwi (tribe) and her mother a member of

. She attended Linwood High School where she was one of four

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 ...

students in a roll of more than 1000. In her final year she was head girl of the school. After finishing high school, she worked as a travel officer at the Government Tourist Bureau but resigned to marry and have children. The family moved to Wellington and Evans studied at

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 kno ...

, completing a master's degree in Māori Studies. Evans began working in government departments, including the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Evans held governance roles in a number of organisations; she was a member of the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...

, a member of Te Aka Matua Māori Advisory for Victoria University and the national advisor to

St John New Zealand St John New Zealand (also often referred to as St John Ambulance of New Zealand) is a charitable organisation providing healthcare services to the New Zealand public. The organisation provides ambulance services throughout New Zealand, as well a ...

on Māori health. She also served in her iwi (tribe)'s educational organisation, Te Runanga o Ngāti Mutungā, for 20 years. Evans retired from the civil service in 2005. She continue to work, lecturing at Victoria University on policy development and its impacts on Māori society.

Publications

In 1983 she was one of the Spiral Collective, a group of three women who published

Keri Hulme Keri Ann Ruhi Hulme (9 March 194727 December 2021) was a New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer. She also wrote under the pen name Kai Tainui. Her novel ''The Bone People'' won the Booker Prize in 1985; she was the first New Zealande ...

's book ''

The Bone People ''The Bone People'', styled by the writer and in some editions as ''the bone people'', is a 1984 novel by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme. Set on the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the novel focuses on three characters, all of whom ar ...

''. The book went on to win the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

in 1985. Evans was a co-editor of ''The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry, Ngā Kupu Tïtohu o Aotearoa,'' which was published in 1989. In 2006, Evans and her sister Rānui Ngārimu produced ''The Art of Māori Weaving'', a book based on an exhibition of Māori weaving at Pātaka Museum in Porirua. The book was a finalist in the

Montana Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

Recognition

In 2016 Evans was awarded the Hunter Fellowship by Victoria University for her commitment to Māori development at the university. After her death, the university established a Miriama Evans Memorial Scholarship to acknowledge her service to Ngāti Mutunga and the university.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Miriama 1944 births 2018 deaths Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand publishers (people) People educated at Linwood College