Mereana Pitman
Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine , Ngāti Porou
Born and raised in Wairoa, Mereana has been an “activist, campaigner for Māori and women’s issues, musician and composer and a staunch supporter of her whānau“ amongst many other interests and passions.
Mereana is retired and does contract domestic violence, Te Tiriti and decolonisation training. She has been the National Māori Chairperson of Women’s Refuge and contributed to the development of Mauri Ora, a violence prevention framework, by participating in the ministerial Māori taskforce on family violence. She is a co-ordinator of the Ngāti Kahungunu Violence-free Iwi Strategy, a project supported by Te Puni Kōkiri and based in Hawke’s Bay. She has authored and co-authored a number of publications that address family violence and parenting from a kaupapa Māori research perspective. Ms Pitman has frequently spoken publicly about issues affecting Māori children and young people.
Mereana was made a “Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit” in the 2019 Queens Birthday Honours for “Services to Māori and family Violence Prevention”
Ka whai whai tonu mātau: Mobilising for racial justice
Mereana has been on the front line of the tino rangatiratanga movement for decades. She is a master strategist, grandmother, singer, chef, gardener and dedicated and effective decolonisation trainer. She relentless walks the talk; always with a clear focus on the kaupapa of racial justice whether it be the fight to retain whenua or efforts to prevent and heal from the intergenerational impacts of violence. She is a holder of history and remains committed to what Ranginui Walker called “ka whai whai tonu mātou” the struggle without end. Join Mereana in a unique story-telling and visioning session.
