- Campus:
- IU Bloomington
Professor Tania Ka’ai
BEd Waikato, MPhil Auckland, PhD Waikato, DipTchg, CertMDP Harvard
Professor Tania Ka‘ai is of Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu), Hawaiian (Kanaka Māoli), Cook Island Māori and Sāmoan descent. She is a Professor and Director of Te Ipukarea Research Institute (see https://www.teipukarea.maori.nz/) and Te Whare o Rongomaurikura – The Centre for Language Revitalisation at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand. In 2020, Professor Ka’ai was appointed as Te Pou Māori – Associate Dean Māori in Te Ara Auaha -Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies. In this role, she Chairs Te Rōpū Taki Māori - Māori Staff Caucus, a forum for both Māori academic and professional staff in the faculty and provides leadership across the Faculty on all things Māori.
Professor Ka’ai is described as a weaver of people, a think tank and an innovator. Her lifes work is reflected in her commitment to creating spaces within the academy to ensure the advancement of Māori academics, professional staff and students through the multitude of programmes and initiatives she has designed and implemented.
In advancing Māori research at AUT, Professor Ka’ai has led out many firsts for the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies and AUT such as a collaborative doctorate of three tradtional Māori weavers, organising Ngā Hua a Tāne-te-wānanga – Māori Research Symposium held annually, the establishment of Te Ranga Tukutuku - Māori Research Network one of five University Research entities that are funded, bringing all Māori researchers together at AUT, the establishment of Kaiwhakatere (navigator) roles in each of the schools in the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies where they sit on the leadership team of their respective Schools to ensure there is a voice for Māori staff and students at the executive level, and establishing four-day Māori & Pacific postgraduate staff and student writing retreats which provide a a cultural forum for networking, sharing experiences, practicing Māori cultural concepts and practices while advancing their writing.It is a space where everyone can be their authentic selves.
As an Indigenous scholar teaching and researching in a university, Ka’ai uses the cultural values and knowledge transmitted by her Indigenous elders and mentors as an epistemological framework to inform her academic writing and teaching within the academy. Professor Ka’ai is respected for her distinctive Indigenous style of postgraduate supervision, for her sustained work in Indigenising the academy and for the validation of Indigenous knowledge and methodologies within this context (see http://www.teipukarea.maori.nz/news-and-events/professor-tania-kaai-supervision-excellence-through-a-cultural-lens/). She championed and supervised the first collaborative doctorate of three Māori women who have just graduated (see https://www.twoa.ac.nz/hononga-stay-connected/student-success-stories/three-raranga-phds-awarded-in-world-first-joint-project).
Professor Ka’ai is well respected by Indigenous communities for her leadership (nationally and internationally) in ensuring that all endangered language community’s benefit from the research and projects the Institute undertakes, making as many digital resources as possible free to access. Her work extends into the Pacific in working with communities on creating digital resources to increase access to their endangered languages (see http://cookislandsdictionary.com/). She has presented on many occasions at side-events at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York on various aspects of Indigenous people’s rights to language and culture.
Professor Ka‘ai is known widely for her work in Māori education and Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho (traditional Māori knowledge). She has served on many boards, advisory boards, and committees throughout her career representing Māori and Pacific. She has been involved in Māori language revitalisation interventions for almost 40 years and her research and publications reflect this work with community. She has worked in tertiary education for 38 years; 28 of these in university education as a full Professor. Professor Ka’ai is the Past-President of the Australian Association of Lexicography (AUSTRALEX), a member of the Board of Directors for the Auckland Kindergarten Association and Chair of the Te Murumāra Foundation (see https://temurumara.org.nz/).
