Hinekura is a Māori woman, educator, weaver, researcher and mother who descends from the Far North iwi of Te Rarawa and Nga Puhi in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has over 27 years experience in Māori education, beginning her career with 12 years as a te reo Māori secondary school teacher before moving into Māori medium professional development, initial teacher education, lecturing and research. Whilst teaching in the tertiary sector, Hinekura completed a Master of Education degree about Māori success ‘as Māori’ followed by a doctoral research project named Whatuora: Whatu kākahu and living as Māori women. Her research interests embrace Māori identity politics, decolonizing education, arts-based research methodologies and Kaupapa Māori / Mana wāhine research for wellbeing. Hinekura is particularly interested in supporting Māori and Indigenous (MAI) doctoral students through the national MAI programme. She is an Associate Professor and the director of Ngā Wai a te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research Centre at Unitec, Te Pūkenga.
Our 15th writer-in-residence, Hinekura is working on completing her first kaupapa Māori book publication – He Kahu Korero: Cloaks that Speak, during her residency.