Linda Ngata
New Zealand community leader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linda Ngata (Ngāti Porou[1]) is a manager and community leader based in Christchurch, New Zealand, specialising in education, training, welfare and community development, particularly of Māori people.[2]
Community leadership
Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Ngata helped found the Earthquake Support Coordination Service in Christchurch, and set up a recovery assistance centre at the city's Ngā Hau e Whā National Marae.[2]
Ngata is the executive manager of Te Rūnanga o te Maata Waka, an urban Māori authority for Te Wai Pounamu[3] headquartered at the marae.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ngata managed a vaccination centre at the marae.[4]
Ngata is the current national trust chairperson (as of 2025) of Ngā Wātene Māori o Aotearoa-Māori Wardens of New Zealand.[5]
Honours
Ngata and her husband Norm Dewes were cited by the National Iwi Chairs Forum for "long-term commitment to their adopted home in Te Waipounamu, and of their regard for Ngāi Tahu as tangata whenua"[1] and given a Te Whare Pūkenga award, which "recognises rangatira who have enhanced the lives of all whānau and who embody values including rangatiratanga, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, tikanga and pono."[6]
Dewes and Ngata received the Pou Here Tangata award from Te Pūtea Whakatupu Trust, a fisheries asset management organisation.[7]
