Sir Tīmoti Samuel Kāretu (born 29 April 1937) is a New Zealand academic of

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

and performing arts. He served as the inaugural head of the Department of Māori at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

, and rose to the rank of professor. He was the first Māori language commissioner, between 1987 and 1999, and then was executive director of Te Kohanga Reo National Trust from 1993 until 2003. In 2003, he was closely involved in the foundation of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, the Institute of Excellence in Māori Language, and served as its executive director. He is fluent in Māori, English, French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Early life and career

Kāretu was born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

. He was adopted at the age of two months in a

whāngai adoption Whāngai adoption, often referred to simply as whāngai (literally, "to nourish"), is a traditional method of open adoption among the Māori people of New Zealand. Whāngai is a community process rather than a legal process, and usually involves ...

by his great uncle Tame Kāretu and Mauwhare Taiwera. His biological mother gave birth to him when she was 17, and died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at the age of 22. He was raised at Waikaremoana,

Waimārama Waimārama is a seaside village in Hastings District, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Waimārama is a popular surf beach, known as a beach break on a sandy beach, with a rocky point. It offers both left and right handers and conditions are often sui ...

and

Ruatāhuna Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of Te Urewera, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is 90 kilometres directly west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana. By road, it is 50 kilometres south ...

, and affiliates to

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...

and

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

. His biological father was

Ngāti Pāhauwera Ngāti Pāhauwera is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. See also *List of Māori iwi This is a list of iwi (New Zealand Māori tribes). List of iwi This list includes groups recognised as iwi (tribes) in certain contexts. Many are also ...

, and they had minimal contact. As a student, Kāretu won a scholarship to Wellington College, where he boarded, and learnt French and

. After leaving school, he moved to

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T� ...

, and taught French and German at Taumaranui High School as well as Māori-language night classes for lawyers. In 1961, he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to work for the New Zealand High Commission, where he served as the chief information officer, and made frequent trips to Brussels to work as a German and French interpreter. Kāretu forged many inter-iwi connections in London, and helped found the cultural group

Ngāti Rānana Ngāti Rānana is a Māori cultural group based in London. It is open to the Māori community in the city, and hosts events attended by many non-Māori. The club aims to provide "an environment to teach, learn and participate in Māori culture an ...

with Louie Tāwhai from

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

, Winnie Waapu from

, Margaret Smith from

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (also known as Ngāpuhi-Nui-Tonu or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland regions of New Zealand centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, the estimate ...

, Margaret Paiki from Aotea, Ben Wanoa from

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

and Norma Mōrehu from

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupō and Manawatū/ Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti ...

. He returned to New Zealand in 1969 and taught secondary-school French and German once again—this time at

Fairfield College Fairfield College is a co-educational state secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. Located in the north-east suburb of Fairfield, it was founded in 1957. Built on the site of a former dairy farm which is leased from Tainui iwi, it is one ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

—before taking up academic work in 1972 at the

Honours

In the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most 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, and honorary ones to citizens of other count ...

, Kāretu was appointed a Companion of the

Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the ...

for public services, and in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours he was named a Knight 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 th ...

for services to the Māori language. He has been conferred honorary doctorates by

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 2003, and the University of Waikato in 2008. In 2020 he was honoured with the

Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

in the non-fiction category and was elected a Companion of

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...

. Kāretu won the 2021 Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award at the

Ockham New Zealand 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 Wa ...

. He had been joint winner of the same award two years earlier.

Songwriting

In 2019, Kāretu translated nine songs from English to

for the album, ''

Waiata / Anthems ''Waiata / Anthems'' is compilation album by New Zealand artists, whereby they re-record previous songs from English to Māori language. It was released in New Zealand 6 September 2019 and it debuted at number 1 on the Official New Zealand Music ...

'', which peaked at number 1 on the New Zealand album charts in September 2019. In 2021, Kāretu helped write the

Six60 Six60 is a New Zealand pop rock band formed in Dunedin, Otago in 2008. The band consists of Matiu Walters (lead vocals, guitar), Ji Fraser (lead guitar), Chris Mac (drums, bass guitar), and Marlon Gerbes (guitar, bass guitar, synthesiser). Th ...

song "

Pepeha A pepeha is a traditional oral recitation given by a person when introducing themselves in the Māori culture of New Zealand. It is often part of a formal greeting or mihi. A pepeha is given in the form of a list, telling a story of a person's ...

", and translated " Hua Pirau / Fallen Fruit" New Zealand singer-songwriter

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

for her Te Reo Māori extended play '' Te Ao Mārama''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karetu, Timoti 1937 births Living people Ngāi Tūhoe people Ngāti Kahungunu people Ngāti Pāhauwera people Academic staff of the University of Waikato Companions of the Queen's Service Order Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Hastings, New Zealand Companions of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand adoptees