Piripi Walker
Alexander Turnbull Library, Reference: EP/1987/2071/8-F
Piripi Walker of Ngāti Raukawa was the Secretary of Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau i te Reo, the Wellington Māori Language Board, which took the Māori language claim to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1984.
As secretary he handled much of the coordination of work for the claim, fundraising and the preparation of evidence. He was secretary, and later coordinator, of Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau language claims and cases to the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts between 1984 and 1997.
He obtained his BA (Hons) in Māori Studies from Victoria University of Wellington in 1981. A founder and inaugural manager of Wellington’s Te Upoko o te Ika, the first Māori radio station, which began broadcasting in 1987, he is also a licensed translator and interpreter.
Piripi Walker has taught te reo Māori at tertiary level and held the position of Director of Language Studies at Te Wānanga o Raukawa from 1991 to 1996. He wrote the important book Whakatupuranga Rua Mano 1975–2000, a history of the 25-year experiment in iwi development that is credited with the resurgence of te reo Māori among iwi from Porirua to Manawatū.