Heather Angela Ballara (née Devitt; 16 August 1944 – 17 September 2021) was a New Zealand historian who specialised in Māori history.
[3] She was born on 16 August 1944,[4] and studied at the University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1969, and a Master of Arts in history in 1973.
[3] Her master's thesis had the title Warfare and government in Ngapuhi tribal society, 1814–1833: institutions of authority and the function of warfare in the period of early settlement, 1814–1833, in the Bay of Islands and related territories.
[5] She later completed a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 1991 on the origins of Ngāti Kahungunu.
[7] Ballara died in Wellington on 17 September 2021, aged 77.