Source: Radio New Zealand
University of Waikato student Naianga Tapiata has been named a Rhodes Scholar and will attend the University of Oxford. Supplied/University of Waikato
A Māori Rhodes Scholar says Mākereti (Maggie) Papakura, believed to be the first indigenous woman to study at Oxford, was a huge inspiration behind his choice to study at the same university.
University of Waikato honours student Naianga Tapiata will complete a two-year Master of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Oxford from 2026.
“We heard the stories of Maggie Papakura growing up, but I never dreamed of it, never saw it being possible,” he said. “Then I remember the first time I was lucky enough to go to Oxford and visit her urupā.
“That, I think, sparked something in me where I realised, ‘Oh, this is possible. This is possible for a young Māori to go to a university like Oxford’.”
Born in Matatā in 1873, Papakura explored the customs of her people of Te Arawa from a female perspective. She died in 1930, just weeks before she was due to present her thesis.
Her thesis was posthumously published by friend, Rhodes Scholar and fellow Oxford anthropologist T K Penniman, in a book entitled The Old-Time Māori and she was awarded a posthumous degree by Oxford University in September 2025.
Tapiata was raised in Rotorua, near the village of Whakarewarewa – the same thermal village Papakura once guided tourists through. She was able to demonstrate that Māori culture had value on the global stage, he said.
“Everyone talked about her when we were over [at Oxford], where she lived, the people she interacted with, and the conditions of care I think she gave to everybody in her vicinity demonstrated to me, I think, the ability for Māori to help offer things to the world, not just how Oxford or the world can help offer things to us, but it’s a reciprocal relationship.
“I think Mākereti was the embodiment of that.”
Mākereti Papakura was believed to be the first indigenous woman to study at Oxford. Supplied / University of Oxford
Tapiata (Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Waikato) is the first graduate of kura kaupapa Māori to become a Rhodes Scholar.
The scholarship is administered by Universities New Zealand and includes a three-stage interview process, involving references, academic results, essays and in-person interviews. Established in 1902, the scholarship is the oldest international graduate scholarship programme in the world.
Tapiata told RNZ it was still a surreal feeling, even two weeks after it was announced, and he was grateful to all the people who had contributed to his education.
“I think it’s a testament to the way they’ve invested in to kaupapa like Te Aho Matua, Kura Kaupapa Māori, Kohanga Reo, etc.”
Tapiata said we were living in a time of revitilisation of indigenous cultures across the world, and Oxford – as a place steeped in colonialism – could play a role in understanding the crossroads of indigenous cultures and Western society.
“I think what’s more important for me is the learning outside the classroom, walking through the halls where colonialism was thought about and strategised about. [What’s] probably more important to me is the people that gather at the University of Oxford and the experiences that come with the diversity of people.”
Indigenous scholars and scholars who were passionate about indigenous cultures had an opportunity to gather at Oxford, and wānanga about these issues, he said.
“I think the collaboration opportunities that come with that, to see what we could do, not just at Oxford, but what we could take back to our own people and help to offer to Oxford opportunities that I think we all hope and dream that our own cultures, our own ways of living have an opportunity to help solve some of the world’s greatest problems like climate change.”
The timing of Tapiata’s study at Oxford couldn’t be any better.
“I think that goes back to the kōrero about Maggie Papakura,” he said. “She enrolled at Oxford in 1927.
“It’s been 98 years since she enrolled. It’ll be 99 when I head over and, only a couple of months ago, she got her degree posthumously awarded to her.
“I think timing played a big role in this opportunity for everyone involved.
“I think, the ability of time to go beyond the normal conditions of human nature, how that can play a role in decision-making is important.
“As we know, as Māori, when you set sail according to different environmental tohu, those factors, I think, play a role in everything, not just things that are Māori, things that are indigenous, but also how they can play a role in things and opportunities like this.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
