Friday 19 March 2021 9:52am
Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe.
Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe has recently started working as the Kaiāwhina Māori in the Commerce Dean’s office, a role in which he will support the Māori student body in the Division.
Born and raised in Ōtepoti/Dunedin he has a one-year-old son Tutemakohu. His Partner, Riiti Conway, is from Tuvalu, just north of Fiji. She plans to finish her Public Health degree at the University in the next semester.
From the age of eight Māori was the only language spoken in his home, or watched on TV, apart from the occasional movie in English.
“I’ve been very privileged that that has been the norm at home,” he says.
Taikawa completed the introduction to carpentry course at Otago Polytechnic in 2019 and worked as a management cadet for Calder Stewart in Mosgiel last year.
“Then this opportunity came up and I grabbed it.
“This Māori student support role really aligns with everything that I’ve been trying to do in the last few years at the University,” Taikawa says.
Numbers are yet to be finalised, but he says that this year’s Māori student intake at the Business School is looking very strong.
This year along with working in his role as Kaiāwhina Māori, Taikawa is determined to finish off his BA majoring in Māori.