Te Tohu Oranga Angitu Lifetime Achievement

Educators, leaders and te reo exponents, Rahera and Te Waihoroi Shortland were named as joint winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rāhera Shortland of Ngapuhi has had a long career teaching te reo Maori at secondary level. She established the first Maori language total immersion unit in a secondary school, at Auckland Girls' Grammar. She chairs Te Ataarangi Educational Trust.

The award also recognises Waihoroi Shortland’s long advocacy and practice of te reo Māori as a Ngāti Hine leader, as a broadcaster, actor and inaugural chair of the Māori language revitalisation agency Te Mātāwai.

“As a couple and each in their own right, Rahera and Waihoroi Shortland’s Māori language revitalisation work will impact on generations of New Zealanders. They have served our communities in classrooms and boardrooms, from the big screen to the kapa haka stage: their legacy is one of service and mana,” said Professor Higgins.


Proudly sponsored by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori