Ngāhuia Murphy

(Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana)

2015 recipient of the Sir Hugh Kawharu Auckland Museum Scholarship

Te rae o Kawharu

He kotuku rerenga tahi

The prominent brow of Kawharu

A rare white heron seen only once in a lifetime

Sir Hugh Kawharu was involved with the Auckland Museum’s governance for over 30 years and the architect of the Taumata-ā-Iwi, the legislated Māori advisory board to the Museum’s Trust Board.

The Sir Hugh Kawharu Scholarship is offered by the Kawharu Foundation in partnership with the Auckland Museum and its Ko Tawa Endowment, established in the mid-2000s by Sir Hugh and Professor Paora Tapsell.

The Scholarship comprises a grant of $10,000. In addition, the Foundation in partnership with the Museum may assist in arranging the appointment of an academic mentor for the duration of the candidate’s studies. It is anticipated that the candidate will undertake a research project which will form part of their university studies and contribute to completion of their degree.

The core objective of the Sir Hugh Kawharu Foundation is to support emerging Māori leadership. Previous recipients include:

• Nikau Hindin (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) (tapa beating) (2014)

• Ngahuia Murphy (PhD, mana wahine) (2015)

• Lizzy Myers (PhD, marine ecology) (2016)

• Kayreen Riana Tapuke (MSc, research award)

• Tracy Maniapoto (PhD, te reo Māori revitalisation)

• Elisha Rolleston (Master of Arts – Māori and Indigenous Studies, MSc Wintec) (2022)

Successful candidate 2015

Dr Ngāhuia Murphy

She is a mana wahine researcher and author of the books Te Awa Atua: Menstruation in the pre-colonial Māori world and Waiwhero: A celebration of womanhood. The Scholarship supported her PhD, completed in 2019, examining tohunga wahine in warfare and the resurgence of Indigenous women’s ceremonies in Aotearoa, Turtle Island (North America and Canada) and Hawai’i.

Ngāhuia is currently a New Zealand Health Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow designing ceremonies and karakia bundles for wahine Māori to assist with rites of passage and connection with atua wahine.

The cover of Te Awa Atua: Menstruation in the pre-colonial Māori world.

Ngāhuia Murphy holds Waiwhero: A celebration of womanhood and talks about the ancient teachings that empower Maori women and the whole whanau.