Historian, Anglican minister, TV presenter and social commentator Dr Hirini Kaa (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu and Rongowhakaata) has long been interested in the engagement and the interaction between Christianity (and in particular the Anglican Church) and iwi in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
This complex and sometimes tense relationship- with claims of religious power, followed by assertions of imperial authority, and degrees of Māori adaptation and transformation- dates back to the time the first English missionaries arrived on these shores back in the early 1800s.
It was the subject of his PhD thesis and is now the basis of a book called Te Hāhi Mihinare- The Māori Anglican Church.
In more recent times Kaa has spoken out on the cannabis and euthanasia referenda and their impact. He also presented, researched and co-wrote the series The Prophets for Māori Television.
Hirini Kaa Photo: supplied
