25 years ago, the people of Ngāi Tahu settled a dispute with the New Zealand government – a settlement which dates back to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and has sealed the fortunes of the tribe into the future. Tipene O’Regan was the lead negotiator for Ngāi Tahu, and since negotiating the settlement has gone on to lead development of the tribe’s archive, a crucial project to enhance tribal learning and record keeping.
Introduction
Ta Tipene O’Regan is an extraordinary New Zealander whose legacy will be the enduring impact he has had on the people of his iwi (or for those listeners outside of Aotearoa New Zealand his tribe) – Ngai Tahu – an impact which will be felt for generations.
Tipene has an utterly unique mix of characteristics which have served him well. He has the gift of exceptional communication skills, he clearly has world-class negotiating skills, combined with personal traits that make a great natural leader – he is perceptive, very likeable, modest and a great listener. He has great mana in New Zealand and around the world, yet there is nothing more important to him than his whanau and his people.
He is probably best known for his leadership during the negotiations for the fisheries settlements of 1989 and 1992, and probably most of all for the Ngai Tahu settlement in 1998, which was finalised and officially recognised in 1999. Those settlements, and the iwi’s subsequent handling of those funds to grow them significantly, has led to Ngai Tahu now being in the position to help members of its community in so many ways. And thus Tipene’s legacy will be felt – literally – by thousands of people in Ngai Tahu over many decades to come.
You’d think he’d stop there, but in recent years, he has led the charge with the Ngai Tahu Archive, making significant contributions to tribal learning and historical record keeping for the tribe. Under his leadership, the team has gone on to evolve the archive, including the ground-breaking Ngai Tahu Cultural Mapping Project. Really, this is going to help to preserve many of the stories and artifacts of Ngai Tahu – many of which may have otherwise been lost.
In 2022 Ta Tipene was announced as the Kiwibank New Zealander of the year and also appointed to the highest Royal Honour in the New Zealand system – the Order of New Zealand.
He lives just paces from the ocean in Otutahi Christchurch with his wife Sandra, where they welcomed me one drizzly afternoon in June last year to have a chat, a chat which I thoroughly enjoyed.
So here is the extraordinary Ta Tipene O’Regan.
