Linda Ngata
Linda Ngata (Ngāti Porou[1]) is a manager and community leader based in Christchurch, New Zealand, specialising in education, training, welfare and community development, particularly of Māori people.[2]
Community leadership
[edit]Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Ngata helped found the Earthquake Support Coordination Service in Christchurch, and set up a recovery assistance centre at the city's Ngā Hau e Whā National Marae.[2]
Ngata is the executive manager of Te Rūnanga o te Maata Waka, an urban Māori authority for Te Wai Pounamu[3] headquartered at the marae.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ngata managed a vaccination centre at the marae.[4]
Ngata is the current national trust chairperson (as of 2025) of Ngā Wātene Māori o Aotearoa-Māori Wardens of New Zealand.[5]
Honours
[edit]Ngata and her husband Norm Dewes were cited by the National Iwi Chairs Forum for "long-term commitment to their adopted home in Te Waipounamu, and of their regard for Ngāi Tahu as tangata whenua"[1] and given a Te Whare Pūkenga award, which "recognises rangatira who have enhanced the lives of all whānau and who embody values including rangatiratanga, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, tikanga and pono."[6]
Dewes and Ngata received the Pou Here Tangata award from Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, a fisheries asset management organisation.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Norm Dewes-Linda Ngata Citation" on Forum website, retrieved 2025-05-18
- ^ a b "About us" on New Zealand Claims Resolution Service website, viewed 2025-05-18
- ^ "Taking steps to enable Ōtautahi Pasifika community" on Oranga Tamariki website, 2023-06-13, retrieved 2025-05-18
- ^ O'Callaghan, Jody "Health workers doing 'hard mahi' to reach 13,000 unvaccinated Māori in Canterbury", 2021-10-13, on Stuff (website), retrieved 2025-05-18
- ^ "Māori Wardens receive $15m funding boost" on 1news website of TVNZ, retrieved 2025-05-18]]
- ^ Lynch, Chris "Respected community champion dies", 2024-01-02, retrieved 2025-05-18
- ^ "A man of the people", 3 January 2024, Te Ao News website, retrieved 2025-05-21
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