Ockhams NZ Book Award Winner 2026 www.nzbookawards.nz
Te Mūrau o te Tuhi - Māori Language Award
2026 Recipient"Ko Te Āhua o Ngā Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti, he mahi rangahau nui whakahirahira e wānanga ana i te rētōtanga, te mana, me te toitūtanga o ngā kupu whakaari me ngā whakataukī, me te hononga ā-ngākau ki te whakapono, ki te whenua, ki te hītori, me te tangata. He mea whakarite te hanganga o te pukapuka nei ki tētahi tupuna whare hei arataki i te kaipānui mai i te tūāpapa o te whare ki tōna whatumanawa, e whakakitea ana te kupu tapu mā ngā whakataukī, ngā kupu whakaari, ngā waiata, me ngā ingoa o ngā whare nā Te Kooti Arikirangi Turuki i tapa. E whakaatu ana a Tā Pou he tapu atua tō te reo poropiti, he maha ōna paparanga tikanga, ā, he kawenga matatika kei runga i te kawe o aua kupu. Mā tēnei pukapuka ka whakarangatira te reo Māori, ka whakahoki i te mauri o te mātauranga Māori, ā, ka waiho he wāhi mā te kaipānui hei whakaaroaro, hei wānanga, ka mutu, kia ū ki tōna ake māramatanga.
Te Āhua o Ngā Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti is a significant scholarly work that examines the depth, authority, and enduring power of kupu whakaari and whakataukī, and the intimate connections to faith, land, history, and people. Structured metaphorically as a whare tūpuna, the book guides the reader from the foundations of the whare through to its heart, revealing the sacred nature of language through whakataukī, kupu whakaari, waiata, and named houses of Te Kooti Arikirangi Turuki. Tā Pou Temara demonstrates how prophetic language conveys divine tapu, layered meaning, and moral responsibility. This work enriches te reo Māori, restores the mauri of mātauranga Māori, and creates space for readers to reflect, interpret, and arrive at their own understandings."
He kōrero hirahira tēnei e wānangatia ai ngā kupu whakaari a Te Kooti Te Turuki Rikirangi – he poropiti, he kaiārahi, he pou nō te Hāhi Ringatū.
Ko Te Kooti Te Turuki Rikirangi tētahi o ngā maunga teitei o te wā – he kōkōrangi i ngā rā pōuri, he tokotoko i te awa kōpaka. I tū ia hei toa i te whare o Tūmatauenga, engari ki te Hāhi Ringatū, he poropiti – he matakite nāna i hāpai ngā moemoeā, ngā tūmanako, me ngā wairua o te iwi i ngā tau o te ngarohanga: te whenua, te oranga, te mana motuhake.
I tōna ringa matau te pū me te riri, i tōna ringa māui te whakapono, ngā kupu whakaari, me te tohu rangimārie. Nā Te Kooti i hora atu ēnei kupu ki ngā marae o te motu, hei karere poropiti, hei tohu whakatūpato, hei māramatanga mō ngā uri whakatipu. He kupu e kōrero ana ki te manawa, ki te wairua, ki te whenua.
Ko tēnei pukapuka nā Tā Pou Temara – he mema o te Kaunihera Tekau mā Rua a te Kuīni, he ahorangi, he tohunga mō te kupu, mō te whakaaro Māori. Ka wānangahia e ia ngā kōrero a Te Kooti: ngā whakakitenga i tukuna ki ngā marae, ngā waiata i tuhia hei huna i te mōhiotanga, ngā kōrero i poipoia i raro i te maru o te atua. Ka pānuitia, ka wetewetehia, ka uia: kua tutuki rānei ngā kupu a Te Kooti? Kei te ora tonu rānei i ēnei rā?
Ko ngā whakaaro o Tā Pou i ahu mai i ngā kōrero tuku iho o Te Whānau-a-Apanui, o Te Arawa, o Ngāi Tūhoe – ngā iwi i whakatupu i tōna ngākau kia mōhio ai ki te hā o te kupu, ki te wairua o te whakapono, ki te tapu o te kōrero tuku iho. Nā konā, ka rere mai tēnei pukapuka hei puna mātauranga mō te hunga e kimi ana i te māramatanga ki te Hāhi Ringatū, ki te poropititanga Māori, ki te reo, ki te hītori o te motu – mai i te uma o ngā marae, mai i ngā whakapono o ngā tīpuna, mai i te kore ki te ao mārama.
‘Temara is a cultural authority: a tohunga of te reo Māori, oratory, karakia, and tikanga. His scholarship carries both academic rigour and deep lived engagement with Māori oral traditions. This combination allows him to treat Te Kooti’s words not as relics but as living content – something to be engaged with in the present.’ – Waatea News
The prophetic sayings of Te Kooti Te Turuki Rikirangi – analysed and explained in te reo Māori by Tā Pou Temara.
Te Kooti Te Turuki Rikirangi stands as a towering figure of his time – a storm in dark days, a staff for those adrift. A warrior in the house of Tūmatauenga, yet to the Ringatū Church, a prophet – one who carried the dreams, hopes and spirit of the iwi through years of loss: land, life and sovereignty.
In his right hand, the gun of battle; in his left, the word of God. Te Kooti spread these words across the marae of the motu; a messenger, a guide, a beacon of understanding for generations to come. His words speak to the heart, to the spirit, to the land.
This book, by Tā Pou Temara – a member of the Māori Queen’s Council of Twelve, a professor, and a tohunga of Māori language and thought – offers a deep exploration in te reo Māori of Te Kooti’s prophetic messages: his visions, teachings and songs. Through these pages, Tā Pou asks: have Te Kooti’s words been fulfilled? Do they still live today?
Tā Pou’s insights, grounded in the ancestral knowledge of Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Te Arawa and Ngāi Tūhoe, illuminate the essence of the word, the spirit of belief and the sacredness of tradition. This book is a rich source of knowledge for those seeking understanding of the Ringatū faith, Māori prophecy, the Māori language and the history of the land – from the heart of the marae, from the wisdom of ancestors, from the shadows to the light.
Te Kaituhi / Author
He mea whakatipu a Tā William Te Rangiua ‘Pou’ Temara KNZM (1948 te tau i whānau ai ia) e ōna kaumātua i te mātotorutanga o te reo Māori i Te Urewera kia waru tau rā anō tōna pakeke. Koia te wā i hoki ai rātau ki Ruatāhuna. He ahorangi tikanga ia i te Wānanga o Awanuiārangi i tēnei wā. I mua atu he ahorangi ia o te reo Māori, o ngā tikanga, me te kaupapa rapunga whakaaro i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. I mua i tāna mahi i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, i Te Whare Wānanga o Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui ia (otirā te wāhi i whai tohu mātauranga ai ia), ā, i Awanuiārangi ia i mua o tōna haerenga ki Waikato. Ko ia hoki te mana ahurea o te whaikōrero, o te whakapapa me te karakia. Kua tū ia hei mema mō Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi mai i te tau 2008, hei mema mō Te Poari Tarahiti Māori o Tūhoe Waikaremoana, hei heamana mō Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe, ā, ko ia te heamana o Karanga Aotearoa, te mana whakahoki mai i ngā kōiwi Māori i tāwāhi. I whakawhiwhia ia ki Te Tohu Tā i te tau 2021. Ko ia hoki tētahi o te Tekau mā Rua a Kuīni Nga Wai Hono i te Po. He mea tā tāna pukapuka, Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau, e Auckland University Press i te tau 2023, ā, koia te toa o te tohu Te Mūrau o te Tuhi nā Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa.
________
Sir William Te Rangiua ‘Pou’ Temara KNZM (born 1948) was raised by his grandparents in a Māori-language environment in Te Urewera until he was eight years old, when they moved back to Ruatāhuna. He is a professor of Māori Philosophy at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Previously he was a professor of reo and tikanga at the University of Waikato and taught at Victoria University of Wellington (where he also studied). He is a cultural authority on whaikōrero, tikanga and karakia. He has been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal since 2008, a member of the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board and former chair of Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe within his iwi, Tūhoe, and is current chair of the Repatriation Advisory Panel at Te Papa. He sits on Kuini Nga Wai Hono i te Po’s ‘Council of Twelve’. He was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021. His book Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau, published by Auckland University Press, was honoured with the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Award – Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award, celebrating its contribution to te reo Māori and the stories of Tūhoe.
History and Archaeology
Hardback, 208 pages
H: 228mm W: 152mm Spine: 19mm