Māori rights expert and demographer Edward Te Kohu (Ted) Douglas died yesterday at the age of 81 in his Hamilton rest home.
The Ngāi Tahi and Kāti Māmoe descendant was educated in schools in Otago and Hutt Valley High School, Lower Hutt. He continued his education at Victoria University and Auckland University, where he received a BSc and masters in science.
He was president of the New Zealand Federation of Māori Students in 1966 before receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship to study Demography and Sociology at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, and later worked as a planner for the Jamaican Ministry of Education.
He went on to hold the following roles at universities across Aotearoa
- 1970 - Lecturer in geography at Victoria University
- 1973 - Lecturer in sociology and social anthropology at the University of Waikato
- 1982 - Senior research fellow at the Centre for Māori Studies and Research at Waikato University
- 2001 - Lecturer in property at the University of Auckland
He was selected as the senior research officer to the Royal Commission on Social Policy. He was also contracted to work for the Department of Māori Affairs and the Iwi Transition Agency.
He filed several claims with the Waitangi Tribunal, including the Manukau claim, the Ngti Awa claim, the Te Reo claim and the broadcasting frequencies claim. He served on the National Mori Congress' Housing Committee and provided consulting services to the Tainui Trust Board. Douglas has served on the board of trustees of Auckland's Hato Petera College.
Douglas wrote over 50 academic monographs, papers, reports, tribunal submissions and journal articles. His poetry has been published in Te Ao Marama and his short stories remain unpublished.
A funeral service will be held tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. at the Simplicity Funeral Home in Te Rapa, followed by a memorial service at the Waitomo Marae when it reopens next year.