Pareaute Polly Nathan is a New Zealand

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 ...

educator and weaver. In the

2016 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

, she was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

, for services to Māori and education.

Biography

Nathan completed a teaching diploma at 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 ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, in 1994. She spent much of her working life as a

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

teacher in the Far North of the North Island of New Zealand. She taught at

Ahipara School Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, ...

and Kaitaia College, and was Head of Māori at Kaitaia College from 1985 until her retirement in 2003. She also visited and supported Māori language teaching in other schools in the region as a member of Te Reo o Te Tai Tokerau, the secondary schools te reo Maori teachers' group. At Kaitaia College she hosted regional

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 ...

and speech competitions, and established the annual Far North Schools Multi-cultural Festival in the 1980s. Nathan began weaving in the 1960s, learning from 'Aunty' Florrie Berghan. After her retirement from teaching in 2003 she became more involved with weaving, holding monthly workshops at the Ahipara's Roma marae. In 2009 she established a weaving gallery, Te Whare Whiri Toi, to maintain the art of traditional weaving, and organised a national weavers' hui at Ahipara. In 2015 she received Creative New Zealand's Te Waka Toi Tohunga Raranga (King Ihaka) Award. Nathan is a member of the

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

and

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Rūnanga and marae Te Rarawa has 23 foundation marae: *Korou Kore Marae, '' Ahipara'', represents the hapū of Ng� ...

tribes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Pareaute Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal Tainui people Te Rarawa people New Zealand Māori weavers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Waikato alumni