Angeline Ngahina Greensill (born 1948) 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 ...

political rights campaigner, academic and leader.

Early life

Greensill is of

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 ...

, Ngati Porou, and Ngati Paniora descent, born in the late 1940s in

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 ...

and raised at Raglan, on the turangawaewae of Tainui o Tainui ki Whaingaroa. She was educated at Raglan Primary, Raglan District High School, Hamilton Technical College, Hamilton Teachers College and at Waikato University. She holds a Trained Teachers Certificate, LLB (Bachelor of Laws), Bachelor of Social Sciences with 1st class Honours and completed a Masters of Social Science in 2010, with a thesis on the

Resource Management Act The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

, supervised by Robyn Longhurst. Greensill's first job was as a primary school teacher both in New Zealand and in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Between 1984–1996 while raising her young family, she worked for her hapu as co-ordinator of employment and skills training and conservation programmes for youth in the Raglan Catchment area. After completing a law degree she was employed by

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 ...

in 1999 to teach in the Department of Geography, Tourism and Environmental Planning specialising in treaties, Māori geography and resource management.

The environment

As an advocate for the protection of the environment and for Maori land rights of West Coast whanau and hapu in the Whaingaroa area since the mid-70s, Greensill's legal efforts have been crucial in helping to block human-cow transgenic field trials being conducted by AgResearch Ltd, and helped to educate Māori communities on the implications of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

. Due to her expertise in this field she was interviewed in the documentary film The Leech and the Earthworm by

Max Pugh Max Pugh is an award-winning British filmmaker who also has French nationality. Since completing a BBC production traineeship in 2000 during which he worked on Paul Robeson: Speak of Me as I Am, he has directed documentaries on a number of subj ...

and Marc Silver.

Land rights

Greensill assisted in organising the land occupation at the Raglan Golf Course (see

Māori protest movement The Māori protest movement is a broad indigenous-rights movement in New Zealand (). While there were a range of conflicts between Māori and European immigrants prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the signing provided a le ...

), which played a prominent role in helping recognise issues around Māori land rights in New Zealand. Greensill was with her mother,

Eva Rickard Tuaiwa Hautai "Eva" Rickard (née Kereopa; 19 April 1925 – 6 December 1997) rose to prominence as an activist for Māori land rights and for women’s rights within Māoridom. She was born in Raglan. Her methods included public civil disobe ...

, when she was arrested on charges of trespassing. Due to prolonged legal efforts the land was later returned to the local tribe. Greensill was also involved in land occupations at

Bastion Point Takaparawhau / Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Ōrākei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests in the late 1970s by Māori against forced la ...

, Awhitu, and others elsewhere.

Political background

Ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

third, she stood in the in the electorate for the

Mana Māori Movement The Mana Māori Movement was a New Zealand political party. It advocated on behalf of the Māori people. It was founded by Eva Rickard, a Māori activist. Rickard was originally a member of Mana Motuhake, another Māori party, but quit when Mana M ...

but was unsuccessful. Greensill was one of the final co-leaders of the Mana Māori Movement, which she called into recess in 2005 so that the combined efforts of that party could be utilised in the founding and promoting of the

Māori Party 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 ...

. In the past Greensill supported Māori political party

Mana Motuhake Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori people, Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — , in this context, can ...

. One policy Greensill has advocated for is the recognition in law of the 1835

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. Greensill unsuccessfully stood for the Māori Party in the Maori electorates of and

Hauraki-Waikato Hauraki-Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate first established for the . It largely replaced the electorate. Nanaia Mahuta of the Labour Party, formerly the MP for Tainui, became MP for Hauraki-Waikato in the 2008 general ...

in the New Zealand general elections of and respectively. In 2011, however, she joined the breakaway

Mana Party The Mana Movement, formerly known as the Mana Party, is a former political party in New Zealand. The party was led by Hone Harawira who formed it in April 2011 following his resignation from the Māori Party. Harawira won the by-election in Te T ...

, saying that the Māori Party was no longer listening to the people. She contested the Hauraki-Waikato electorate again for her new party in the and elections.

References

External links