Sir Pou Temara, a respected Māori scholar and language champion dies

Te reo and tikanga expert Sir William Te Rangiua "Pou" Temara (Ngāi Tūhoe) has died at the age of 78.

A Facebook post from Pūkaea News said Tā Pou died peacefully, surrounded by his wife, Lady Lenadeen, and whānau by his side.

Tā Pou was a tohunga and an expert authority on Māori customs and language, he taught at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Waikato and as professor of Māori Philosophy at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

"Tohunga were the experts who helped the people maintain a balance between the human world and the spiritual world," he told RNZ in 2022.

"[The tohunga] was not able to cure everything, but because they were the educated person of the tribe he or she knew where to send a person to get satisfaction for the affliction."

He was a director of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo, the Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language, alongside Sir Tīmoti Kāretu and the late Wharehuia Milroy.

Tā Pou was raised by his grandparents, Tamahou Tinimene and Pareraututu, deep in the forests of Te Urewera.

At age eight he returned to Ruatāhuna to attend school, he left Te Urewera when he was 15 years old to attend Wesley College in Auckland.

He was was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal and the chairperson of the Repatriation Advisory Panel at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

In 2016 he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to Māori and education. He was promoted to Knight Companion in the 2021 New Year Honours.

Tā Pou was also the author of many books, including Te Āhua o Ngā Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti which won the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Mūrau o te Tuhi - Māori Language Award in 2026.

Tā Pou will be taken to Mātaatua Marae at Ruatāhuna within Te Urewera on Monday November 9.

He will lay there until the burial on Thursday, November 12.