Tungia Dorothea Gloria Baker (8 October 1939 – 25 July 2005) was a New Zealand actor, weaver, and administrator. Her notable acting roles included Ngahuia in the 1980s television drama ''Open House'' and Hira in the 1993 film ''

The Piano ''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role, the film focuses on a Elective mutism, mute Scott ...

''. Baker was influential in contemporary Māori theatre, Māori film making and Māori arts. She named the Taki Rua Theatre, and was a founding member of Māori artists' collectives Te Manu Aute and Haeata.

Early life and education

The daughter of noted

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 ...

elder and

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa reco ...

paramount chief Matenga Baker of Ōtaki, Baker was born on 8 October 1939 in Ōtaki. Her

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 ...

affiliations were Ngāti Raukawa,

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...

Te Āti Awa Te Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and arou ...

and

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka''). She went to the Queen Victoria School for Māori Girls in Auckland where she was head prefect from 1953 to 1957 and

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

in 1957 and 1958. She did not learn to speak

growing up, as her parents believed it would be better for their children to speak English. Baker received an

American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professiona ...

(AFS) Scholarship in 1958 and she went to West Bend in Wisconsin. She returned to Wellington and studied at

Wellington Polytechnic Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. She later became the first New Zealand National Representative of the American Field Service from 1972 to 1976, pioneering

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

visits for incoming AFS scholars.

Career

Baker became invested in contemporary Māori theatre as it was emerging in the 1970s alongside Bruce Stewart,

Rowley Habib Rowley Habib (24 April 1933 – 3 April 2016), also known as Rore Hapipi, was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and writer of short stories and television scripts. Biography Of Lebanese and Māori descent, Habib identified with the Ngāti Tūwh ...

(Rore Hapipi) and

Jim Moriarty James Moriarty (born 20 June 1953) is a New Zealand actor and theatre director, who began acting professionally in 1967. He came to national attention and is probably best known for his role as the school teacher Riki Winiata in the 1970s soap ...

. In 1976 Baker was an actor with the newly formed company Te Ika a Maui Players to present the stage production ''Death of the Land'' written by Habib. ''Death of the Land'' was a courtroom drama about the sale of Māori land, and Baker went on to also act in the television production in 1978 that had footage of the

1975 Māori Land March It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. These productions were notable at the time as New Zealand stories about Māori issues written by a Māori person and were part of the

Māori renaissance The Māori renaissance is the revival in fortunes of the Māori of New Zealand beginning in the 1970s. Until 1914, and possibly later, the perception of the Māori race, although dying out, was capable and worthy of saving, but only within a Europ ...

. Baker took place in an Maori artists and writers conference (

hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

) at Toa Rangatira Marae,

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

in 1978. Baker was a tutor at Wellington Polytechnic in 1979 and realised she wanted to learn Māori language herself. She went to

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

for this purpose and learnt on a marae at age 40. In the 1980s Baker was part of Te Manu Aute, a collective of Māori film-makers who set about to influence screen production in New Zealand. The collective included

Barry Barclay Barry Ronald Barclay, New Zealand Order of Merit, MNZM (12 May 1944 – 19 February 2008) was a New Zealand filmmaker and writer of Māori people, Māori (Ngāti Apa) and Pākehā (European) descent. Background Barclay was born in Masterton and ra ...

Tama Poata Tama may mean: Languages * Tama language, the language of the Sudanese Tama people * Tama languages, a language family of northern Papua New Guinea Music * Tama Drums, a Japanese brand manufactured by Hoshino Gakki * Tama (percussion), a type of ...

Merata Mita Merata Mita (19 June 1942 – 31 May 2010) was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, and writer, and a key figure in the growth of the Māori screen industry. Early life Mita was born on 19 June 1942 in Maketu in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty. She ...

Don Selwyn Don Charles Selwyn (22 November 1935 – 13 April 2007) was a Māori actor and filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and directed the 2002 film '' Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori me ...

, Annie Keating and Karen Sidney. The collective's philosophy was "Māori are trained by other Māori, in a Māori environment, in Māori projects" to be creating "a stronger Māori presence and voice in the telling of our stories". The current screen advocacy group for Māori, Ngā Aho Whakaari, have acknowledged Baker along with others for their contributions to Māori film makers. She was also part of the Māori women artist's collective Haeata, which was formed in 1983 around a publishing project called ''Herstory Diary'' and had a goal to be "nurturing the talents of new and young Māori women artists". Notably, she was part of an exhibition ''Karanga Karanga'' at the City Gallery in Wellington (1986) organised by Haeata. The show was in part a response to Te Māori, a major international exhibition of Māori art that did not include women's arts forms. Throughout her career, Baker was an advocate for Māori art. In 1984 Baker coordinated the New Zealand component at the fourth South Pacific Festival of Arts in Noumea. She said at the time: "Contemporary Māori art is streaks ahead of the New Zealand art form whatever that is. It has been boiling away for the last 30 years and has crescendos of energy yet to be seen in a Pacific context." In the mid-1980s she oversaw Māori input into a curriculum review at the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. She was also part of the Wellington Professional Working Party group that in 1994 wrote a report to the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

and the Arts Council (Creative New Zealand) recommending that

Downstage Theatre Downstage Theatre was a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that ran from 1964 to 2013. For many years it occupied the purpose-built Hannah Playhouse building. Former directors include Sunny Amey, Mervyn Thompson, and Coli ...

become a New Zealand focused theatre as a point of difference to

Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...

and that it was "Māori, bicultural, local and new". Baker was a

kaumātua A kaumātua is a respected tribal elder of either sex in a Māori community who has been involved with their whānau for a number of years. They are appointed by their people who believe the chosen elders have the capacity to teach and guide both ...

of Taki Rua Theatre and when they changed their name in 1992 as part of a bicultural journey it was Baker who gifted 'Taki Rua' from a weaving expression for 'a pattern of twos', representing "the weaving together of

tangata whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accordi ...

and tauiwi (those from across other waters)". Baker was an influence on younger theatre practitioners including writer

Riwia Brown Riwia Brown (née Taylor; born 1957) is a New Zealand playwright. She is the screenwriter of the popular and award-winning New Zealand movie ''Once Were Warriors'' (1994). The ''Once Were Warriors'' screenplay, adapted from the book of the sam ...

and actor and director Nancy Brunning. Brunning said in 2018:

I thank Tungia Baker,
Wi Kuki Kaa Wi Kuki Kaa (16 December 1938 – 19 February 2006) was a New Zealand actor in film, theatre and television. He was from the Māori iwi of Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu. Family Kaa was born in Rangitukia on New Zealand's East Cape. His fa ...
,
Rona Bailey Rona Bailey (née Stephenson; 24 December 1914 – 7 September 2005) was a New Zealand drama and dance practitioner, educationalist and activist. Bailey was influential in emerging contemporary dance and professional theatre in New Zealand. She ...
, Bob Wiki, Rowley Habib,
Don Selwyn Don Charles Selwyn (22 November 1935 – 13 April 2007) was a Māori actor and filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and directed the 2002 film '' Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori me ...
and
Keri Kaa Hohi Ngapera Te Moana Keri Kaa (194226 August 2020) was a New Zealand writer, educator, and advocate for the Māori language. She was of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Family and education Kaa was born in 1942 in Rangitukia on New ...
for creating and establishing a Māori theatre industry for us.

In 1993 Baker narrated ''The Clio Legacy'' by

Dorothy Buchanan Dorothy Buchanan can refer to: *Dorothy Donaldson Buchanan (1899–1985), first woman to join the Institution of Civil Engineers *Dorothy Buchanan (composer) Dorothy Quita Buchanan (born 28 September 1945) is a New Zealand composer and teacher. ...

and

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

with opera singer Helen Medlyn at the Composing Women's Festival in the Wellington Town Hall. Baker featured on an album recorded by

Rattle Records Rattle Records, established in 1991, is a contemporary art-music label based in Auckland, New Zealand. It releases compositions generally by New Zealand composers in contemporary art genres. It has been described as "the de facto home of New Zeala ...

in 1998 called ''Ipu'' by

Gillian Whitehead Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead (born 23 April 1941) is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing. Early life Whitehead was born in Hamilton in 1941. ...

with

Richard Nunns Richard Anthony Nunns (7 December 1945 – 7 June 2021) was a Māori traditional instrumentalist of Pākehā heritage. He was particularly known for playing taonga pūoro and his collaboration with fellow Māori instrumentalist Hirini Melbourn ...

Judy Bailey Judy Ann Bailey (born ) is a former news presenter for ONE News, the highest rated evening television news programme in New Zealand. Bailey joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (now Television New Zealand) in 1971 and worked as a re ...

and Georg Pedersen. Whitehead tells of a time when they were making ''Ipu'' when Baker gave musician Nunns a Māori rattle instrument she had made as a replica of one from a museum, "another sound came back into the modern world". Baker had a wide range of creative interests and skills outside of the performing arts. Weaving was one of her skills; she learnt the traditional art of ' raranga harakeke' in

, and created the

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are tuitui and arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui ...

panels for the marae at

Bruce Bay Bruce Bay is a bay and settlement in South Westland, New Zealand on the Tasman Sea. It is located on State Highway 6, northeast of Haast and southwest of Fox Glacier. The small settlement of Bruce Bay is located just south of the mouth of Mahit ...

. She worked in radio and was a presenter at the Wellington Māori radio station Te Upoko o Te Ika from 1988 to 1991 including hosting the programme ‘Te Kupenga Kōrero'. Baker recorded the story ''Mihipeka; Early years'' (1991) by Mihi Edwards that aired on

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

. She was also the producer for television documentary ''A Whale Out My Window'' (1996), about the

Southern Right whales The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20° ...

at Campbell Island in sub-Antarctic. In 2000 she led a workshop at

Otago University , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

at a conference 'He Minenga Whakatū Hua o te Ao' at Murihiki Marae called ''Māori in Science or Science in Māori''. Baker moved to the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of New Zealand to take up a management role at Grey Base Hospital in the 1990s. While based on the West Coast she scripted a play about

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 ...

prophet Te Maiharoa, was involved in community arts and festival initiatives. A sculpture Baker made from driftwood and flax, ''Kupenga,'' at the inaugural West Coast Driftwood and Sand competition on

Hokitika Beach Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

won an award. Baker had a Māori korowai cloak presented to her by King Koroki, the Māori King in 1958 as an award for Tungia's achievement as the first Maori female American Field Service scholar. She took this cloak with her to the United States when she was 18, and the cloak has been used on a number of important occasions since, including at the university graduation of her daughter Pearl, at Baker's funeral on her casket and at the funeral of King Koroki's daughter

Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu Dame Te Atairangikaahu (23 July 1931 – 15 August 2006) was the Māori King Movement, Māori queen for 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori people, Māori monarch. Her full name and title was Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu. Her tit ...

Tūrangawaewae Tūrangawaewae Marae is located in the town of Ngāruawāhia in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. A very significant marae, it is the headquarters for the Māori King Movement (''Te Kīngitanga'') and the official residence ...

where Baker first received the cloak.

Memberships and associations

* Haeata – the Māori Women’s Collective. Membership included

Patricia Grace Patricia Frances Grace (; born 17 August 1937) is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Her early short stories were published in magazines, ...

, Keri Kaa,

Robyn Kahukiwa Robyn Kahukiwa (born 1938) is an Australian-born New Zealand artist, award-winning children's book author, and illustrator. Kahukiwa has created a significant collection of paintings, books, prints, drawings, and sculptures. Life Kahukiwa was b ...

, and

Irihapeti Ramsden Irihapeti Merenia Ramsden (1946 – 5 April 2003) was a New Zealand Māori people, Māori nurse, anthropologist, and writer who worked to improve health outcomes for Māori people. Biography Irihapeti Ramsden was the daughter of writer and ...

*Wellington Professional Theatres Working Party (1994). Other members:

Alison Quigan Alison Marie Quigan (born 1952) is a New Zealand actress, director and playwright. Biography In 1978, Quigan trained at the Theatre Corporate Actors School in Auckland. She has worked as an actor in Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch, a ...

, Fenn Gordon, Jonathan Hendry, Simon Garrett *Te Manu Aute (1980s) – collective of Māori film-makers. *Kaumātua of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School *Kaumātua of Taki Rua Theatre * Founding trustee of Project Tohora Trust (non-scientific people developing research on the Southern Right whale in 1997) * Founding trustee of Puhake Ki Te Rangi (the cultural harvest of stranded whales) * Raukawa

Marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

* Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki *Coast Health Care

Filmography

Theatre

Selected productions include:

Personal life and death

Baker had four daughters. She died of cancer in Ōtaki on 25 July 2005, and was buried in Rangiātea churchyard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Tungia 1941 births 2005 deaths 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses Deaths from cancer in New Zealand New Zealand Māori actresses Ngāti Raukawa people People from Ōtaki, New Zealand