PremiumOpinionOpinion byDr Areti MetuamateNZ Herald·4 Jun, 2026 07:07 AM5 mins to readDr Areti Metuamate (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Haua, Cook Islands) is a political scientist and Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne.Ngāti Raukawa leader Professor Whatarangi Winiata pictured in Kaitaia, November 12, 2009. He was the founding president of the Māori Party.THE FACTSNgāti Raukawa leader Professor Whatarangi Winiata has died age 92. Winiata was a founding figure and the first president of the Māori Party. He also helped establish Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki – the first Māori higher education institution.Over the past few weeks, Māoridom has lost three of its greatest modern leaders: Sir Tāmati Reedy, Sir Hirini Moko Mead, and now Professor Whatarangi Winiata, known to many simply as Matua Whatarangi. The scale of this loss is difficult to overstate. It is monumental.
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