Scholarships uphold the legacy of the Māori Battalion

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships continue to uphold the values of the Battalion even after the death of its last surviving member, Sir Robert “Bom” Gillies.

The recipients of the Scholarships were announced on Thursday in Parliament.

The scholarships were established in 1945 to assist Māori achievers to succeed in education and to contribute as leaders in New Zealand and overseas. Over 300 of them have been awarded.

Past winners include Willie Apiata VC, Professor Whatarangi Winiata, Hekia Parata, Dr Patu Hohepa and Dr Monty Soutar.

Ngarimu scholarship board member and past winner Dr Kahurangi Waititi told Māpuna the scholarships are about honouring the legacy of the 28th Māori Battalion and Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu VC.

“Now that we have lost our last mōrehu (survivor) they actually become really important. They’ve always been really important and it was beautiful in the time where the soldiers and the widows were on this board selecting.

“I was selected for one of my scholarships in that time. And so I think with them all gone now, it becomes really important that we remember what their key and core values were. But more so, how do we carry those values forward in the application of these scholarships? How do we remember? And what’s it going to look like in 50 years when there’s that degree of separation from our soldiers?”

Waititi’s father Major John Waititi, also known as “John the Major,” was the last surviving commanding officer of the Battalion and a former scholarship board member, he died in 2012.

“He absolutely loved this board, which is why I said yes when I was asked to come on. I know this was a heart kaupapa for him, and I could do nothing else but say yes to it when I was asked,” she said.

Waititi described her father as a “weaver of people” and there was some pressure stepping into a role with the board.

When she first applied for the scholarship there were still veterans and widows of veterans on the panel that she had to present to.

“They will ask the questions, they will interrogate you if possible. Yes, it was such a scary, scary situation for me. But I think my whole premise there was that at the time we were making stories, short stories about my father through video and through film. And so I actually had a really good visual presentation to give them and by the end they had tears,” she said.

This years applicants are really pushing the envelope and establish stories for their own time, she said.

There are scholarships available for Doctoral, Masters, Undergraduate and Vocational training, as well as the Ngarimu Video and Waiata competitions which Waititi said gives people different methods to express the stories of the 28th Battalion.

“There’s something about [Battalion soldiers] wanting a better future and them wanting their people to thrive. And I think that’s a key tenant within these scholarships as well. And so, yeah, in terms of the legacy, I think I’m actually excited to see where it goes in the future in terms of how we express and how we retell these stories.

“As scary as it is to have them all gone now, I think we’re in control of, you know, not over-romanticising, understanding the whakapapa of the trauma that came into our communities because it had nowhere else to be processed,” she said.

Doctoral scholarship recipient Uenuku Jefferies credits his koro as the reason he is receiving the scholarship and the reason he speaks te reo Māori every day.

His rangahau, or research, is centred around tikanga, especially around pre-colonial ceremonies and traditions and weaving that with his work as a filmmaker.

“So the main pātai is how might a Māori approach documenting pohoro or tāmoko alongside the reclamation of pre-colonial ceremonies and traditions.”

In May 2022 Jefferies said he was fortunate enough to reclaim his puhoro, tattoos on his legs, thighs and back.

“Just like my practice as a filmmaker, decolonising narratives is a big thing. But not only just narratives, but also our beliefs.”

As part of his PhD, he will create four short documentaries.

“There are so many aspects in a documentary that create beauty. And that may be that that footage, or the kōrero that is captured is actually given back to the haukāinga. It may be that my whānau took place within the production, or the economic value of the project went back to the people and so that’s how we measure success… we can’t just think inside the box and I know that the 28th Māori Battalion did that.”

The 2026 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship recipients:

Doctoral:

• Uenukuterangihoka Tairua Jefferies (Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto)
• Arna Whaanga (Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa)

Masters:

• Xavia Tuera Connolly (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Ngāruahine, Mōkai Pātea, Ngāti Whakaue, Whakatōhea, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Whātua)

Master of Education Research:

• Tiffany Radich (Ngāti Awa)

Undergraduate:

• Temaea Teaeki (Ngaiterangi, Kiribati)
• Isla Mariana Fellows (Ngāti Mutunga ki Taranaki, Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri)
• Hinerangi Nicholas (Tūhoe, Ngaiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Kuki Airani)

Vocational Education and Training:

• Tūī Mārama Keenan (Ngāti Porou)
• Tiffany Daphne Shirtliff (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou)
• Janine Aroha Tito (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Mahuta)

Ngarimu Video Competition:

• Skyla Storm Ngawaki Te Moana (Te Whānau a Apanui)
• Florence Kararaina Ngā Mata O Manaiawharepu Grace (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Te Whānau a Apanui)

Ngarimu Waiata Competition:

• Hineata Durie-Ngata (Ngāti Porou, Rangitāne, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakatere, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Awa)
• Mahaki Chambers (Ngāti Porou)

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand