Morehu McDonald

Iwi Affiliations

Morehu McDonald is from the hapū and iwi of Ngāti Hinerangi, Ngāti Hauā, and Ngāti Mahuta of Waikato-Tainui. He also belongs to the hapū of Ngāti Ngutu of Maniapoto and Ngāti Hāmua of Ngāti Ruanui in Taranaki.

Relevant Qualifications

PhD : Doctor of Philosophy in Indigenous Studies, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, NZ 

Diploma of Adult Teaching, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, NZ

MA : Master of Arts in NZ History, University of Auckland, NZ

BA : Bachelor of Arts in History, University of Auckland, NZ 

Expertise

Morehu has extensive experience in iwi Treaty settlement claims. He was the founding Chairman and Chief Negotiator for the Ngāti Hinerangi hapū and iwi Treaty settlement claim.Morehu also has extensive senior management and governance experience in iwi health provider organisations, and making television programmes and documentaries. Additionally, he gained experience as a kaiako and senior manager in Te Wānanga o Aotearoa where he was the Head of Education for Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau for the past four years.

In 2018, Morehu graduated with a Doctorate in Indigenous Studies from Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. His doctoral thesis was awarded the Emeritus Professor Roger Green, ONZM, Award for Top Thesis. It examined the consequences of Crown Treaty breaches against his hapū and iwi of Ngāti Hinerangi from Matamata and Tauranga. His thesis revealed that the Crown waged an unjust war on Ngāti Hinerangi and unlawfully confiscated their tribal lands which drove the hapū and iwi of Ngāti Hinerangi to the brink of cultural extinction. 

Morehu is passionate about the growing movement amongst Māori scholars to ensure mātauranga Māori, the ancient forms and multiple bodies of Māori knowledge continue to survive and thrive through Rangahau. Morehu sees Rangahau as the spiritual taonga of indigenous inquiry, philosophy, theory, methodology, and practice. Rangahau is also the acquisition and transmission of the celestial, esoteric, and terrestrial knowledge of the Gods handed down through successive generations by Tohunga Māori, or Māori scholars in the traditional Whare Wānanga or schools of teaching and learning. For Morehu, Rangahau is critical for the development of new ways of knowing, being, and doing drawing on the multiple bodies and systems of traditional knowledge for ideas and solutions for issues and concerns of today. In this way, Rangahau is not only innovative and current but it is also transformational.  

Key Contributions

Peer-reviewed journal articles 

  • McDonald, M (2017) TWoA Journal Wāhia Ngā Ngaru, Ko Manawatina, Ko Manawatoka Vol 2, Issue 1, pages 8-12 ‘Conceptualising Authentic Māori Inquiry’ 

  •  McDonald, M (2016) TWoA Journal ‘Rangahau – Our People, Our Voices – Our Word, Our Way’, pages 4-12, ‘A Tainui Perspective on Ngā Uara - The Foundational Values of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa’ 

Peer reviewed book chapters, books edited

  • McDonald, M (2021) Rapua te mea ngaro in ‘Ngā Kete Mātauranga. Māori Scholars at the Research Interface’ edited by Prof. Jacinta Ruru & Prof. Linda Waimarie Nikora, Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga, published by the Otago University Press

Other contributions

  • McDonald, M (2018) The Resistance, Struggle and Survival of the Ngāti Hinerangi Iwi of Matamata and Tauranga…  (Unpublished PhD thesis) Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi 

  • McDonald, M (1975) Rewi Manga Maniapoto – The Changing Strategies of 19th century Māori Political Leadership, (Unpublished Master’s thesis) The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 

  • McDonald, M (2006) Ngāti Hinerangi Mana Whenua Report, Crown Forestry Report for Treaty Claims of Ngāti Hinerangi Iwi to the Waitangi Tribunal 

  • McDonald, M (2006) Ngāti Hinerangi and the Kaimai Tunnel and Deviation commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal.  

  • McDonald, M (2012) Hato Petera College Treaty Claim - for claims to the Waitangi Tribunal Hearings in Northland.  

  • McDonald, M (2013) Ngati Hinerangi Deed of Mandate 16 August 2013 35 pages  

  • McDonald, M (2013) Te Rohe Potae Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry Hearings Evidence Book, April 2013, Maniapoto Hapū Brief of Evidence for Ngāti Ingoa Treaty Settlement Claim, April 2013, pages 240-275  

  • McDonald, M (2015) Centenary 12-page Historical Booklet of Hinerangi Tāwhaki Tūpuna Whare, 31 Oct 2015  

  • McDonald, M (2016) Ngāti Hinerangi Map Book & Narratives on Sites of Significance, 16 June 2016  

  • McDonald, M (2017) Producer of TWoA 50-minute video on ‘Te Whare Tapu o Ngāpuhi’, September 2017.  

  • McDonald, M (2018) The Resistance, Struggle and Survival of the Ngāti Hinerangi Iwi of Matamata and Tauranga…  (Unpublished PhD thesis) Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi 

Meet the Team