Māmari Stephens

Rev. Meredith Māmari Stephens
Born	1970 (age 54–55) Christchurch
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington MA (Distinction) in Classical Studies, BA (Hons), and an LLB (Hons)
Occupation(s)	Research fellow, assistant lecturer, Anglican Māori chaplain
Spouse	Maynard Gilgen
Children	3
Website	sparrowhawkkarearea.com

Māmari Stephens (born 1970)[1] is a law academic best known for her work creating He Papakupu Reo Ture: A Dictionary of Māori Legal Terms, a Māori-English a bi-lingual dictionary of legal terms. She identifies as being of Te Rarawa and Ngāti Pākehā descent.[2][3]

Stephens has a background in classics and law at Victoria University of Wellington, where she is currently a Reader in Law.[4] After graduating, she worked at Russell McVeagh in Wellington for 3.5 years.[5]

In 2019 she was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and is a part-time Māori Chaplain at Victoria University.[6][7] She is on the Board of Trustees of the Wellington City Mission.[8]

Legal Māori Project

Led by Stephens and Mary Boyce of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, this FRST-funded project[2][9] created the first ever Māori-English bi-lingual dictionary of legal terms, He Papakupu Reo Ture: A Dictionary of Maori Legal Terms. The project involved digitising historical texts, and many of the texts old enough to be out of copyright were released by the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.[10] The other outputs of the Legal Māori Project, including the dictionary, corpus and corpus browser, are all available at www.legalmaori.net as a part of the Māori Law Resource Hub, Te Pokapū Reo Ture.

Personal life

Stephens is married to Maynard Gilgen. They have three children and live in Wellington. She attends St Michael's Church, Kelburn, where she is responsible for youth ministry.[3] Her family whakapapa links her to Wainui marae in Ahipara.[11]

Selected publications

• Social Security and Welfare Law in Aotearoa New Zealand (Thomsen and Reuters, 2019) ISBN 9781988553566
• He Papakupu Reo Ture: A Dictionary of Maori Legal Terms ISBN 9781927183748[12][13][14] (section winner of the Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards.[15])
• A Return to the Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, Victoria University Wellington Law Review, 32, 437

References

1. "Stephens, Meredith Mamari, 1970-". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
2. "Legal Māori Project - Faculty of Law - Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
3. "Who We Are". Chaplaincy VUW. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
4. "Mamari Stephens - Faculty of Law - Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria.ac.nz. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
5. "Associate Professor Māmari Stephens | Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga". www.maramatanga.co.nz. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
6. "Diocesan Thanksgiving and Ordination – Movement Online". movementonline.org.nz. Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
7. "Māmari Stephens - BWB Bridget Williams Books". www.bwb.co.nz. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
8. "Our People | Wellington City Mission". wellingtoncitymission.org.nz. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
9. "Maori legal projects win Foundation support - NZ Law Society". Lawsociety.org.nz. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
10. "He Pātaka Kupu Ture / Legal Māori Archive | NZETC". Nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
11. Te Rā o Waitangi (PDF), Ōtaki Anglican, 2022, p. 11
12. "The Legal Māori Dictionary – treading a careful path… at Māori Law Review". Maorilawreview.co.nz. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
13. "Launch of He Papakupu Reo Ture: A Dictionary of Māori Legal Terms". Maorilawsociety.co.nz. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
14. LawTalk 756, 16 August 2010, page 10.
15. Resumes by Name (11 October 2013). "Maori book awards | The Big Idea | Te Aria Nui". The Big Idea. Retrieved 4 June 2014.