Kuni Kaa Jenkins (born 1941) is an educationalist and author in New Zealand. She is a Professor in Education at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. She has researched early Māori written documents looking at relationships between Māori and Pākehā. She co-authored the 2018

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

winner ''Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds.''

Early life and education

Kaa Jenkins was born in

Pōrangahau Pōrangahau is a small township close to the Pacific Ocean coast in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies in the southernmost part of Hawke's Bay, 45 kilometres south of Waipukurau, and close to the mouth of the Pōrangaha ...

, a settlement in

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

New Zealand in 1941. She affiliates with the Māori nation

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

. She studied in Wellington at the Wellington Teachers’ College training to be a teacher and afterwards taught in primary schools in the Hutt Valley. She was also a teacher in the 1980s in Christchurch at schools in Linwood and St. Martins and then in Auckland including being the Principal of Aka Aka County School and Oruawharo School and in 1983-88 Assistant Principal at Kingsford School, Mangere. She went back to study in the late 80s and graduated in 1987 with a B.A. in Māori Studies and Education from Auckland University. She stayed on to do a Masters in Education graduating in 1990. Kaa Jenkins has a PHD from Auckland University awarded in 2000 titled ''Haere tahi tāua: an account of aitanga in Maori struggle for schooling''. She is a professor of education at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

Career

In 2011 as an extension of a

Marsden grant Marsden Fund grants are contestable funding for investigator-led fundamental research in New Zealand. Grants are made in all areas of research in science, engineering, and mathematics. The grants are made from the Marsden Fund, which was establish ...

Kaa Jenkins published a book ''He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper'' (

Huia Publishers Huia Publishers is a New Zealand publishing company based in Wellington, established in 1991. Huia publishes material in Māori and English for adults and children, including graphic novels, picture books, chapter books, novels and resources fo ...

) co-authored with

Alison Jones Barbara Alison Jones is a New Zealand academic who works in the field of sociology of education. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Andrew Buchanan, New Zealand politician 1862–1874; great-great granddaughter of William Baldwin Ne ...

. The research was about early Māori writing and the two-way teaching and learning relationships between Māori and Pākehā from 1769 to 1826. The book is structured in 16 chapters where Kaa Jenkins and Jones wrote about 16 'different textual artefacts or groups of artifacts' they encountered at various archives and libraries. An example is a letter to the chief of Rangihoua

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

, Ruatara, in 1814 by

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden w ...

. In 2012 this book won Best Book in Higher Education Publishing at the CLNZ Educational Publishing Awards, Te Kōrero Pono - Non-fiction at the Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards and an award at the Publishers Association New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards. This research work was also an exhibition. In 2012 Kaa Jenkins was appointed the head of social services organisation Ririki to replace the founding chairperson Hone Kaa. Kaa Jenkins book ''Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds'' co-authored with Alison Jones and published by

Bridget Williams Books Bridget Williams Books is a New Zealand book publisher, established in 1990 by Bridget Williams. Establishment Williams established the company in 1990 when the company she was working for, Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a Brit ...

won the 2018

in the Illustrated Non-Fiction category. The book is about two young Māori men who travelled in 1817 to England, Ngare Raumati chief Tuai and Tītere. Reviewer Briar Wood describes how in this book Jones and Kaa Jenkins use primary sources such as letters and journals and a 'cautious interpretation of the significance of Tuai’s journey' to create a 'profoundly interconnected book'. The book was launched in 2017 at Kororareka Marae in the Bay of Islands. It is part of a series 'Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori' produced by the

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...

and

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) is New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE). It was established in 2002 and is hosted by the University of Auckland with 21 research partners and is funded, like other CoRE's, by the Tertiary E ...

. The Ockham prize money was put towards a trip of Ngare Raumati to London to take some of Tuai’s drawings loaned to an exhibition ''Oceania'' at the Royal Academy of the Arts. The writing partnership between Kaa Jenkins and Jones has been a long one and extends to academic papers. Kaa Jenkins has appeared at the Auckland Writers Festival.

Books

* ''He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper'' (2011) co-authored with Alison Jones, Huia Publishers ISBN 9780947518806 * ''Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds'' (2018) co-authored with Alison Jones and published by Bridget Williams Books

Selected academic articles

* ''Pedagogical events: re‐reading shared moments in educational history (''Aug 2004) co-authored with Alison Jones * ''Indigenous Discourse and “the Material”: A Post-interpretivist Argument'' (Aug 2008) co-authored with Alison Jones * ''Cross-cultural Engagement in Higher Education Classrooms: a Critical View of Dialogue'' (Jan 2007) co-authored with Alison Jones

Awards

* Best Book in Higher Education Publishing (Copyright Licensing New Zealand) (2012) - ''He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper'' co-authored with Alison Jones, Huia Publishers * Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards (2012) - ''He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper'' co-authored with Alison Jones, Huia Publishers * PANZ Book Design Award (2012) - ''He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper'' co-authored with Alison Jones, Huia Publishers * Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Ockham New Zealand Book Awards (2018) - ''Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds'' co-authored with Alison Jones and published by

References

External links

* Words Between Us - He Kōrero (2021) https://www.goingwestfest.co.nz/audio/kunijenkins {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaa Jenkins, Kuni New Zealand academics New Zealand women academics Ngāti Porou people People from Hawke's Bay 1941 births Living people