Phaedra Chin and Savannah Cowan reflect on the legacy of Ngā Rangahautira and look forward to the future.

Kō ngā tahu ā ō tapuwai inanahi, hei tauira mō āpōpō.

The footsteps laid down by our ancestors create the paving stones upon which we stand today. 

This whakataukī reminds us that the opportunities we have today are a product of those who walked before us. It prompts us to look back on the achievements and legacy of Ngā Rangahautira, and the way our history continues to inspire Māori law students. As Ngā Rangahautira celebrates its 40th anniversary, we reflect not only on where we have come from, but on the whakapapa that continues to shape our rōpū today. Every kaupapa we lead is built on the work of those who came before us. Each generation has strengthened and added to the whakapapa of Ngā Rangahautira.

We acknowledge the tauira Māori who came before the establishment of Ngā Rangahautira, whose journeys would have been difficult, and whose impact paved the way for Māori in law school. Dame Georgina Te Heuheu (Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Te Arawa, Tuhoe), the first woman to earn a law degree, and Tā Taihakurei Durie (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Rangitane, Rangitāne), the first Māori Judge, and later Chief Judge, to be appointed to the Māori Land Court, were the ‘firsts’ of many ‘firsts’ in te ao Māori.

One whakaaro that continues to guide many tauira comes from Dr Moana Jackson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Porou), who challenged us to be "Māori who happen to be lawyers, not lawyers who happen to be Māori”. While we strive for academic excellence, our purpose has always been broader, which is to support tauira to carry their Māoritanga with confidence into the law, and to strengthen the profession through it. Year after year tauira seek refuge in Ngā Rangahautira, not only to receive academic support, but to connect with their Māoritanga.

This year also marks 40 years since the whakatuwheratanga of Te Tumu Herenga Waka. Professor of Māori Studies Tā Hirini Moko Mead (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Tūhourangi), Emeritus Professor Whatarangi Winiata (Ngāti Raukawa), tohunga Rangiāhuta Ruka Broughton (Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Ruanui) and Dr Wīremu Parker (Ngāti Porou) were instrumental in advocating for the development and construction of Te Tumu Herenga Waka. We acknowledge the passing of our tōtara, Tā Hirini Moko Mead and Whatarangi Winiata.

Kei te mihi atu ki a rāua kua wheturangihia.

I ngā wā o mua

Tā Joe (Ngati Pūkenga, Waitaha, Tapuika) has talked about what it was like as a Māori law student in the 1980s. He remembered that most Pākehā students had mothers and fathers who were lawyers and Judges. For Māori law students, Tā Joe found that most were the first in their family to go to university, let alone come from an established line of lawyers. He recognised that Māori students lacked the same privilege that Pākehā students had. In the early 1980s, a study rōpū for Māori law students was established by Tā Joe, Ani Mikaere (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou), Annette Sykes (Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Mākino), and Toni Waho (Ngāti Rangi, Te Ati Hau-Nui-a-Parangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Waikato). This rōpū formed their own tauira Māori network, which aimed to create an environment where tauira could connect with and learn from their tuakana, and most importantly, pass their classes.

To celebrate this year's milestone, we honour the rangatira who paved the way for current and future Māori law students to succeed. Following Tā Joe Williams and Ani Mikaere’s submissions on the Fisheries Bill, Ngā Rangahautira continues to submit on Bills. Through the gifting of Te Kauwae Parāoa (MPI room) by David Jones (Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Kahungunu) and Tai Ahu (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Kahu), Māori law students have a designated space within the colonial walls of the Old Government Building law school. It is due to the success of tauira Māori that we now have Māori Judges, Māori legal academics, and Māori lawyers to inspire and guide the next generation of Māori law students.

I tēnei wā

Where we are today is the result of generations of tauira Māori responding to the changing needs of our people. In seeking to uplift academic achievement, the original study rōpū began the whāriki that continues to weave Māori law students together. While the original study rōpū was established to help Māori students succeed academically, Ngā Rangahautira has grown alongside the needs of tauira. Academic success remains at the heart of what we do, but our role now extends well beyond passing exams. Our focus has expanded to create opportunities to strengthen te reo Māori, contribute to legal scholarship, advocate on issues affecting Māori, and prepare tauira for legal practice.

Like Tā Joe’s cohort that recognised the need for a rōpū Māori at law school, Ngā Rangahautira has continued to identify new challenges facing Māori law students, and set a goal to provide support to overcome those barriers. That is what inspired one of our goals for Ngā Rangahautira this year – to provide legal skills-based opportunities, to invite those who have never stepped foot in a law firm to experience a taste of the profession, and to connect tauira with Māori lawyers.

Many of Ngā Rangahautira’s alumni continue to contribute to Ngā Rangahautira as lawyers and professionals, particularly in support of the Māori Moot and Māori Negotiation competitions, and as keynote speakers of Mana Māori presentations. We acknowledge the past Ngā Rangahautira executive komiti, and the kaihāpai whose dedication and contributions have continued to uplift tauira ture Māori.

We highlight some of Ngā Rangahautira’s successes over the last three years:

In 2023, Jury Teniteni-Smeaton, Tessa Keenan, and Keeley Peachy produced the inaugural issue of Te Ranga Huatau. In that issue, Jury placed the tono to keep this kaupapa going.

In 2024, ‘Kawhe Kōrero’, an informal rumaki reo group, was formalised and transformed into ‘Te Parakuihitanga o te reo Māori’ by champions of te reo Māori, Christie Wallace and Kaea Tibble. The purpose of this kaupapa was to create a fun and safe space for Māori law students to learn and practice te reo Māori.

In 2024, Teia Kahura and Ngā Kaiaronui (the submissions committee) presented submissions on behalf of Ngā Rangahautira to Select Committees on the Fast Track Approvals Bill, Marine and Coastal Areas (Tākutai Moana) Amendment Bill, Oranga Tāmariki s 7AA Amendment Bill, and the Treaty Principles Bill.

2025 marked the first year that the Ngā Rangahautira Māori Negotiation Competition was held at Te Tumu Herenga Waka, the wharenui of Te Herenga Waka marae.

Thanks to Jimmy Fiso’s international whakawhanaungatanga, Ngā Rangahautira built a relationship with Melbourne Law School. In 2025, the tumuaki of Ngā Rangahautira, Tamati Durie-McGrath and Nathaniel Cashell, and a rōpū of senior Māori law students attended a wānanga at the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub at Melbourne Law School.

In May 2026, we celebrated 39 Māori law students who graduated with their law degrees, the largest cohort of Māori law graduates from Te Herenga Waka yet.

Today, Ngā Rangahautira provides opportunities for tauira across all aspects of their journey, including weekly kapa haka practices, sports games, and parakuihitanga o te reo Māori. Alongside our annual mooting and negotiation competitions and the launch of the Te Ranga Huatau magazine, we run legal skills and networking workshops, panels, noho marae, Mana Māori keynote presentations, social events, and naturally, study wā.

Āpōpō

Ngā Rangahautira remains a place where tauira develop as lawyers and as Māori. Some arrive with a strong connection to their whakapapa, te reo Māori and te ao Māori. Others begin that journey here. Alongside legal education, there will always be value in creating spaces where tauira can strengthen those connections and support one another through law school and beyond.

The whakapapa of Ngā Rangahautira demonstrates that every generation of tauira inherits different challenges. As those challenges continue to change, so too will the ways in which Ngā Rangahautira supports Māori law students. Perhaps the greatest lesson of the past 40 years is that Ngā Rangahautira has never been defined by any one kaupapa, executive komiti or generation. It has endured because each generation has recognised what was needed in its own time, contributed what it could, and left a stronger foundation for those who followed. Whatever the next 40 years bring, we hope Ngā Rangahautira continues to respond in the same way it always has: by listening to the needs of tauira, creating opportunities where they are needed, and ensuring that those who come after us begin from a stronger position than we did. For this is how we can honour the whakapapa of Ngā Rangahautira and continue to weave the whāriki for generations to come.

Nā,

Ngā Tumuaki o Ngā Rangahautira i te tau 2026 – Phaedra Chin (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) and Savannah Cowan (Ngāpuhi, Ngāruahine, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Kauwhata). 

Author: Guest Author

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