Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith (née Mead; born 1950) was a professor of

indigenous education Indigenous education specifically focuses on teaching Indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content within formal or non-formal educational systems. The growing recognition and use of Indigenous education methods can be a response to the er ...

at the

University of Waikato , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , cit ...

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 Hamilto ...

, New ZealandEminent Education Leader Appointed to Top Post at Waikato University
9 March 2007 and is now

Distinguished Professor Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs. In the United States Often specific to one institution, titles such ...

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is a wānanga (indigenous tertiary education provider) in based in Whakatāne, New Zealand, established in 1991 by Ngāti Awa. Faculty * Taiarahia Black * Mera Lee-Penehira * Te Kani Kingi * Ron Taiapa Ron i ...

. The daughter of

Sidney Moko Mead Sir "Sidney" Hirini Moko Haerewa Mead (born 8 January 1927) is a New Zealand anthropologist, historian, artist, teacher, writer and prominent Māori leader. Initially training as a teacher and artist, Mead taught in many schools in the East C ...

, she affiliates to the Ngāti Awa and

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zeala ...

iwi.

Academic career

Smith earned her BA, MA (hons), and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

degrees at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Her 1996 thesis was titled ''Ngā aho o te kakahu matauranga: the multiple layers of struggle by Maori in education.'' She was a member of the

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 Co ...

political group

Ngā Tamatoa Ngā Tamatoa (''The Warriors'') was a Māori activist group that operated throughout the 1970s to promote Māori rights, fight racial discrimination, and confront injustices perpetrated by the New Zealand Government, particularly violations of th ...

while a university student. Smith is the author of '' Decolonizing Methodologies'' (

Zed Books Zed Books is an independent non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg. Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, co ...

, 1999 and 2012), a

critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine * Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing ...

analysis of the role of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

scholarly

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

played in the process of

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

indigenous cultures Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. This work is considered a major contribution to

research method Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

s in

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

research. Smith is the Pro-Vice Chancellor Māori, Dean of the School of Māori and Pacific Development and Director of Te Kotahi Research Institute at the University of Waikato. In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebra ...

, Smith was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

for services to Māori and education. In 2017, Smith was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "

150 women in 150 words Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand. In November 2016 she was appointed a member of the Waitangi Tribunal. In the same year she retired Pro Vice Chancellor Māori and took a short-term contract as Professor of Māori and Indigenous Studies in the newly formed Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies. In September 2020 the hashtag #BecauseOfLindaTuhiwaiSmith went viral when Smith was one of a group of academics who wrote an open letter to the

Ministry 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 ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

in education and news that her contract would not be renewed. A report commissioned by the University of Waikato into claims in the letter found that ''the institution is structurally discriminatory against Māori'' but did not support other claims in the letter. In 2021, Smith joined

as Distinguished Professor.

Personal life

Smith was born in

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, ...

, New Zealand. Her father is

of Ngāti Awa, also a professor, and her mother is June Te Rina Mead, née Walker, of

. She was given the name Tuhiwai as an adult. When Smith was a teenager, she moved to the US while her father was completing his PhD. Her family lived in southern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

and she attended

Carbondale Community High School Carbondale Community High School is a public high school located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. It serves grades 9-12 and is part of its own school district, having several different feeder schools within the city and outside of it. In 2 ...

. In her time in the U.S. education system, Smith gained a new found confidence as a learner. Smith later moved to

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the ...

where she worked as an assistant at the Peabody Museum of Salem, typing labels in the basement. Upon her return to New Zealand, she applied her value of the confidence of students to New Zealand students, especially Maori students. In the 1970s, Smith was a founding member of the radical group

. She was radicalized by texts by

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

and

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...

. Her role in Ngā Tamatoa was to communicate with Maori people about the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...

. Smith saw education as the most important part the Maori struggle for freedom. Smith is married to fellow academic Graham Smith.

Selected works

* Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books Ltd., 2013. * Denzin, Norman K., Yvonna S. Lincoln, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, eds. Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies. Sage, 2008. * Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. "On tricky ground: Researching the native in the age of uncertainty. N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.) The Landscape of Qualitative Research." (2008): 113–143. * Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. "Kaupapa maori research." Reclaiming indigenous voice and vision (2000): 225–247. * Cram, Fiona, Linda Smith, and Wayne Johnstone. "Mapping the themes of Maori talk about health." (2003). * Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. "Building a research agenda for indigenous epistemologies and education." Anthropology & education quarterly 36, no. 1 (2005): 93–95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Linda Tuhiwai Living people New Zealand educational theorists 21st-century social scientists New Zealand Māori academics University of Waikato faculty Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Decolonization Ngāti Awa people Ngāti Porou people New Zealand Māori women academics 1950 births Members of the Waitangi Tribunal Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi faculty