\u201cOne could say that yes, I did walk the talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mead was the founding Professor of M\u0101ori at Victoria University of Wellington and established the first Department of M\u0101ori Studies in New Zealand along with the first university-based marae on a campus \u2013 Te Herenga Waka.<\/p>\n
After his retirement from Victoria University, he helped establish Te Whare W\u0101nanga o Awanui\u0101rangi in Whakat\u0101ne. Mead said he couldn\u2019t have achieved all that he did without the support of his late wife Lady June Mead, who had a lot to do with the establishment of the w\u0101nanga.<\/p>\n
Into his 90s, Mead continued to chair the council of Te Whare W\u0101nanga o Awanui\u0101rangi<\/p>\n
Mead was one of the curators of the 1984 landmark exhibition, Te M\u0101ori, which toured the United States before returning to Aotearoa as Te Hokinga Mai.<\/p>\n
On the plane trip back to New Zealand he said it was a confirmation to M\u0101ori people that they had been right.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, what we\u2019re getting at all of these venues overseas was a confirmation to the M\u0101ori people that we\u2019ve been right, we\u2019ve been right to hold fast to our culture to hold fast to M\u0101oritanga, that we really do have something to give to the world at large. And if the New Zealand P\u0101keh\u0101 rejects it, well, I think from now on what we have to say is, \u2018that\u2019s their hard luck\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was the inaugural chairman of Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101ti Awa and chief negotiator for Ng\u0101ti Awa Treaty claims from 1992 to 2005.<\/p>\n
Mead was instrumental in negotiating the return of the famous wharenui Mataatua, \u201cTe Whare i Hoki Mai or the House that Came Home\u201d, to Whakat\u0101ne, which was opened in 2011.<\/p>\n
In the 2006 Queen\u2019s Birthday honours he was named a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to M\u0101ori and Education. He was knighted in 2009.<\/p>\n
He was the author of several books, including Tikanga M\u0101ori: Living by M\u0101ori Values.<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n