He maimai aroha: Angus Hikairo Macfarlane

It is with sadness that the Royal Society Te Apārangi acknowledges the passing of Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane (Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa) CNZM FRSNZ.  

Professor Macfarlane was a leading scholar, based at Te Whare Wananga Waitaha University of Canterbury, who not only earned an international reputation for advancing knowledge within his specialist fields, but also generated significant impact in both education and research.

His career included vast experience as an educator, a lecturer, and an advisor in the education system. He investigated and implemented culturally responsive pedagogies, including ways to reconceptualise structures and engagement in schools to include and support Māori students.

His greatest legacy might be his ability to synthesise complex evidence from sociocultural theory, psychology, and educational research, and translate it into models that can be understood and applied by teachers and researchers.  He developed seminal models such as the ‘Educultural Wheel’, the Hikairo Schema, the Mana Model, Resource Teachers for Learning and Behaviour, and Hui Whakatika, for use in schools.

His bicultural model for research, the ‘He Awa Whiria’ or ‘Braided Rivers’ framework, was taken up by Superu (the Families Commission), the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Education. 

These contributions ensured that he was not only respected by other academics, but well-known across Aotearoa New Zealand for enabling others to implement best practice in their work. He influenced teaching of primary, secondary, and tertiary students, generating positive impact for generations to come.

Professor Macfarlane shared his expertise generously, particularly through mentoring and support for other Māori scholars.  He was a leader of several important initiatives, including the Māori Research Laboratory, Te Rū Rangahau, at the University of Canterbury, and E Tipu e Rea: A Better Start, the National Science Challenge on children’s growth and development.

Professor Macfarlane received the highest recognition from his peers for his academic achievements, including the Tohu Pae Tawhiti Award from the NZ Council for Educational Research in 2010, the University of Canterbury’s prestigious Research Medal in 2013, and the Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award in 2015. He was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021.

In 2018, the Fellows of the Royal Society Te Apārangi elected him to join their Academy. As part of Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi, Angus made huge contributions to the research system. These included Kua Takoto Te Manuka, the challenge to grow the number of Māori Fellows. He also shared his expertise to help refine the Society’s processes for evaluation of research excellence to guide investments in research.

Angus contributed greatly to the mahi of the Marsden Fund.  Several years ago he and his wife Sonja held a Vision Mātauranga workshop for the Marden Fund Council, which was hugely beneficial and eventually led to the development of improved Vision Mātauranga resources for the Fund. He also served on the Social Sciences panel and was an invaluable source of advice around te reo and mātauranga Māori, including input into a te reo Māori glossary for Marsden panellists and international referees.

Angus’ wife, Associate Professor Sonja Macfarlane FRSNZ, is an outstanding scholar in her own right, and we acknowledge her and the Macfarlane whānau in their loss.

I learned about Angus’ passing last night while attending the Research Honours Aotearoa. Although it was very sad news, it was somehow appropriate that we heard about it together as the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Angus had a large influence on who we are as a learned society, and how we have evolved to be more inclusive of knowledge generation in its many forms and the people who devote their lives to it. 

Angus had a calm and wise way of opening eyes, expanding viewpoints, and leading others into greater understanding of Kaupapa Māori and its relevance to how we as a nation can accomplish greater things together.

Like everyone who knew him, I am grateful to have had him as a colleague. We will miss his ready smile, keen humour, warm demeanour, and articulated passion for imbuing greater understanding of Māori culture and perspectives into everyone’s life.

He will live on through the seeds he planted in the hearts and minds of a generation. Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. – Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

- Distinguished Professor David R Schiel FRSNZ, Academy Executive Committee member. 

It was a great sadness to learn of Angus Hikairo Macfarlane's death. My sincere condolences to Sonja, all of the Macfarlane whanau and his many friends and colleagues.

Over many years Angus Macfarlane gave a great deal to Te Apārangi as advisor on Māori knowledge, as a Fellow, as a member of the Academy Executive Committee, and in many other areas of the Royal Society's work. He brought a warmth, a generosity, a resolute determination and great patience to all he did. Angus' presence in the room always made the occasion a larger and better one.

Angus Macfarlane developed the idea of Te Awa Whiria, taking inspiration from his one-time home in Otautahi and at the University of Canterbury. This was the notion of braided rivers representing the multiple knowledge systems in Aotearoa. Always headed in the same direction, towards bringing light and understanding, such streams ran alongside each other, at times converging, at time diverging, on their way to a common destination in the ocean. One of Angus' last publications was the collection he co-edited: He Awa Whiria: Braiding the Knowledge Streams in research, policy and practice (Canterbury University Press, 2024).

We will all miss Angus a great deal but Te Apārangi and those who knew and worked with him, are the better for his presence in our lives.

Moe moe rā

- Emeritus Professor Charlotte Macdonald, FRSNZ, Academy Executive Committee chair from 2020-2023.

As we mature our knowledge of Matauranga Māori, build respectful relationships and continue on a journey of applying Te Tiriti to our lives in Aotearoa New Zealand, we need guides who have the wisdom and people skills to bring others on this journey. Professor Angus Hikairo MacFarlane was on of our most important guides and leaders. He spoke quietly but with authority – and people listened. He brought immense knowledge of Te Ao Māori and made that knowledge accessible and demonstrated its relevance. He translated Tikanga and Te Tiriti to the modern world and sought to find the best from Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pākehā – and from other worlds – to make things better for everyone. He contributed to the development of science and research practice in Aotearoa and was always a willing participant in negotiating often challenging debates and issues.  For those of us who worked with Angus in the Marsden Fund, and especially on the Social Sciences Panel,  his contribution, his words, his friendship and his wisdom will be sorely missed. We have lost a true Rangatira. Haere ki te Atua, Haere ki te wa Kainga. Haere, Haere, Haere.

- Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Spoonley MA MSc PhD FRSNZ.