Our team

Joanna Kidman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) works in the field of indigenous sociology at Victoria University of Wellington. Her research focuses on the politics of indigeneity, Māori youth and settler-colonial nationhood. She has worked extensively in Māori communities across Aotearoa and with indigenous communities in central Taiwan.
 
Vincent O’Malley is a professional historian and founding partner of the Wellington research consultancy HistoryWorks. He has published widely on New Zealand history, including The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000 and his most recent work, The New Zealand Wars/Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa, both published by Bridget Williams Books. 
 
Tom Roa (Waikato-Maniapoto) is Associate Professor at the University of Waikato: Title: Te Mata Ahurangi; Member of Te Kauhanganui/Te Whakakitenga o Waikato since its inception; former Chair; former member and Chair of Te Arataura (Executive of Waikato-Tainui);  former Chair of Iwi Chairs’ Forum: Trustee and former Chair of Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust and of Waikato Raupatu River Trust; Chair Trustees Taarewaanga Marae; Deputy Chair Trustees Pūrekireki Marae; Member of the Waitangi Tribunal. Tribal historian of Waikato-Maniapoto.
 
Hiria McRae (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu) specialises in teaching early childhood, primary and secondary pre- and in-service teachers in English and Māori medium settings. Her research covers a range of topics in Māori education, although she focuses on place-based education and education for sustainability, especially in tribal contexts. 

Pine Southon (Ngāi Tūhoe) is Principal Advisor to the Faculty of Education at Victoria University of Wellington and has oversight of specialist Māori and Pacific Island spaces in the Faculty. She manages engagement with iwi, hapū, and other external communities including in the Pacific/Oceania region.
 
Liana MacDonald (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne, Ngāti Koata) is a recent PhD graduate who studied silencing and institutional racism in settler-colonial education. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow for the project: Remembering and Forgetting Difficult Histories in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Keziah Wallis (Kāi Tahu) is an social anthropologist whose previous work has focused on the ways that religion, culture, and gender intersect in the production of connectedness in contemporary Myanmar. Her work involves the integration of experiential, feminist, and indigenous anthropological methodologies in the pursuit of a decolonised understanding of how communities establish sense of self-identity and belonging. She is currently a research fellow for the project: Remembering and Forgetting Difficult Histories in Aotearoa/New Zealand and is a tutor and teaching fellow in the religion and anthropology programmes at Victoria University of Wellington.

Leah Bell is a co-signatory to the successful 2015 petition to Parliament seeking a commemoration day for the New Zealand Wars, spearheaded by Ōtorohanga College students. Leah and her peers have advocated for this pivotal history to be included in the New Zealand curriculum, which has recently come to fruition. During this campaign without end, Leah has addressed multiple forums representing a voice for rangatahi in the progression of this kaupapa. Leah is currently completing an Honours degree in History at Victoria University of Wellington.

Image (top): Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki kaumātua Wirangi Pera with Joanna Kidman at Waerenga-a-Hika battle site. Photograph: Vincent O'Malley