Sir Robert Te Kotahi Mahuta, KNZM (26 April 1939 – 1 February 2001)[1] was a prominent Maori politician. He was born Robert Jeremiah Ormsby but changed his name by deed poll.[1] He was born in Te Kuiti, New Zealand and died in Hamilton, New Zealand aged 61.[1]
Mahuta was the first Maori leader to negotiate a satisfactory compensation settlement with the New Zealand government for tribal land confiscated under European settlement in the fledgling colony. In a deal completed in late 1994, he won a package worth NZ$170m for his Tainui tribe for the seizure of 485,000 hectares of land in the North Island's Waikato Region 131 years earlier. Significantly for all Maoris, the settlement included the first formal apology given by the Crown to the indigenous people for historical wrongs during colonisation.[1]
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Mahuta was the step-brother of the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu. He married Raiha (nee Edmonds) in 1964 and had one son and two daughters. His elder daughter, Nanaia, is a Labour MP.[2]
He was the director of Maori Studies and Research at Waikato University from 1972-1877. In 1977, he studied at Wolfson College, Oxford.[1] Mahuta served as a Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commissioner, Chairman of the Maori Development Corporation and Chairman of the Tainui Maori Trust Board. For his services to the Maori people he was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in 1997.[1]
Robert Mahuta was a "warrior in the true sense", said former Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Douglas Graham.
"Sir Robert's achievements are unsurpassed, irrespective of the troubles in recent times," said former Minister of Māori Affairs, Parekura Horomia. Mr Horomia had the utmost respect for Bob and was grateful for the opportunity to work with him, which they did so on numerous occasions.