Tahu Potiki (23 December 1966 – 27 August 2019) was a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

leader who served as chief executive of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu from 2002 to 2006.

Biography

Potiki was born in

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and ...

to Les and Rona Potiki, and grew up in

Karitane The small town of Karitane is located within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, 35 kilometres to the north of the city centre. Set in rolling country near the mouth of the Waikouaiti River, the town is a popular holiday retreat ...

, becoming an authority on the history of his

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

. Potiki had been kaiarahi at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, which became the

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ara Institute of Canterbury, often simply referred to as Ara, is an institute of technology in Canterbury, New Zealand. It was formed in 2016 from the merger of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) and Aoraki Polytechnic. Ara ...

, and board chair of Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation. He also sat on the Canterbury and West Coast health boards. He died in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

on 27 August 2019, aged 52, having been diagnosed with

end-stage liver disease Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

in 2014, and receiving a liver transplant in 2017. On 14 May 2021, asteroid 101462 Tahupotiki, discovered by astronomer

Ian P. Griffin Ian P. Griffin (born 1966) is a New Zealand astronomer, discoverer of minor planets and a public spokesman upon scientific matters. He is currently the Director of Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand. Griffin was the CEO of Science Oxford, in Ox ...

at the

Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory, or AMPO, also known as the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium and Observatory, is an astronomical observatory and planetarium at Eastern Florida State College in Cocoa, Florida. The f ...

in 1998, was in Potiki's memory by the

Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered ...

References

1966 births 2019 deaths Ngāi Tahu people People from Palmerston, New Zealand New Zealand chief executives {{Māori-bio-stub