HAANI HUATA
Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou,
Ako Wānanga
Tokowhā ngāna tamariki kua pakeke, kotahi tonu te mokopuna. I tupu ake a Haani ki roto i te riu o Waikato, i roto i te Kīngitanga. I kuraina ki te kura tuatahi o St. Peter Chanel’s Convent kātahi ka nuku ki Sacred Heart tīmata ai ki tana kura tuarua tuatahi. Kia ako i te reo Māori i nuku ia ki te Kura Tuarua o Fairfield i raro i te maru o Kōkā Erana Coulter me Matua Te Ururoa Flavell. Wehe ana i reira ka haere ki Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. Ki reira i whiwhi i a ia tana Bachelor of Arts (Māori) me tana Masters of Māori and Pacific Development. Koia te akonga tuatahi ki te whērā. Ka mahi ia hei Travel Agent ki te Student Travel Association me te whakaako hoki ki roto i te Tari Māori i Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.
Haere ana ngā tau ka nuku ia ki Te Waipounamu ki te whakaako- tuatahi ki roto i te Tari Māori i Te Whare Wānanga o Canterbury - tuarua hei Tumuaki (Director Māori) i te Tari Māori ki te Christchurch Polytechnical Institute (CPIT). I muri mai i te rū whenua i Christchurch ka hoki rātou ko tana whānau ki Hamilton noho ai, ā, ka whiwhi i a tētehi tūranga Kaiako Matua ki Raroera Campus o Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Kei te mahi tonu ia mā Te Wānanga o Aotearoa i te kaupapa Ako Wānanga.
He mātau rawa a Haani ki tōna reo Māori me ngā tikanga a ngōna iwi katoa. Nā reira i whiwhi i a iatana tiwhikete Te Panekiretanga i te rangapū tuatahi.
He kaha a Haani ki te whakaako kapa haka me te tito waiata hoki. Kua eke hoki a Haani ki te tēpu matua o te kaiwhakawā i Te Matatini.
Ko ngana mahi whai rangahau e pā ana ki te reo tonu me ngā mahi a Rēhia me Tāne Rore.
Haani has four adult children and 3 grandchildren. Haani was raised in Waikato within the Kīngitanga. She attended St. Peter Chanel’s Convent for primary school and then Scared Heart Secondary school. In order to develop her knowledge of Te Reo Māori she moved to Farifield College to study under Erana Coulter and Te Ururoa Flavell. From there she went to the University of Waikato and gained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Māori and her Masters of Māori and Pacific Development, being the first student to do so. While tutoring in the Māori Department she also worked as a travel agent at Student Travel Association on the University of Waikato Campus.
Eventually she moved to Christchurch having gained a lecturer’s position in the Department of Māori. At Canterbury University. From there she moved and became Director Māori at CPIT. After the devastating earthquakes in Christchurch she and her family moved back to Hamilton. There she gained a position as Kaiako Matua at the Raroera Campus of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. She currently works in the Ako Wānanga team for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, supporting kaiako and kaimahi to embed Kaupapa and Mātauranga to affirm, develop and enhance their daily practice.
She is a fluent speaker and writer of Te Reo Māori and has a strong grasp on her customary practices of all her tribes. As a result she became a graduate of the first cohort of students of Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo Māori.
Haani has performed and taught kapa haka for many years and is a prolific composer of Māori songs. She has also held the position of a national judge at Te Matatini.
Her research interests are based around language acquisition and customary practice knowledge through Māori song and dance.
