Kāterina Mataira

Who was Kāterina Mataira?

Dame Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira DNZM was a New Zealand Māori language proponent, educator, intellectual, artist and writer. Her efforts to revive and revitalize the Māori language, led to the growth of the Māori immersion schools in New Zealand.

She was born in 1932 in Tokomaru Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. She was a member of the Ngāti Porou Māori iwi. Mataira had nine children with her husband, Junior Te Ratu Karepa Mataira. She initially studied to be an art teacher and educator.

Mataira and a friend, fellow teacher Ngoi Pēwhairangi, co-founded the Te Ataarangi program as a way to teach and revitalize the Māori language. Mataira was intrigued by the Silent Way, a language teaching method created by Caleb Gattegno, and adapted to method to teach Māori. Her efforts earned her the nickname as the "mother" of the Kura Kaupapa Māori, or Maori immersion schools, according to Dr. Pita Sharples. She also authored Māori language children's picture books and novels.

In the New Year Honours 2011 Mataira was appointed as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to the Māori language.