University of British Columbia Sir "Sidney" Hirini Moko Haerewa Mead KNZM (born 8 January 1927) is a New Zealand anthropologist, historian, artist, teacher, writer and prominent Māori leader.

Mead later became a prominent Māori advocate and leader, acting in negotiations on behalf of several tribes and sitting on numerous advisory boards.

Growing up during the Great Depression, much of his early childhood was spent in the care of his grandmother while his mother lived elsewhere working.

Mead later taught in schools in the neighbouring Bay of Plenty region, including in the Urewera Valley, Whakatāne, Tauranga and Te Kaha.

Formalising his academic qualifications, Mead earned a Diploma in teaching in 1962, followed by Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees at the University of Auckland, which were both completed by 1965.

Mead earned his PhD at the University of Southern Illinois in 1968, with his former teacher Bruce Biggs acting as one of his supervisors.

[9][10] Mead retired from the Victoria University of Wellington in 1990 after 14 years at the head of New Zealand's first Māori studies department.

And any praise for Māori culture is not given very willingly by a Pākehā audience and I believe it's got something to do with our colonial experience and our history, that we can't quite rid ourselves of, the attitudes that belong to our past.

And if the New Zealand Pākehā rejects it well, I think from now on what we have to say is, 'that's their hard luck'.Mead was also the editor and one of the core authors of the Te Māori catalogue that accompanied the exhibition.

For almost 20 years the Trust Board helped to research and prepare Ngāti Awa's case for historical redress with the Waitangi Tribunal.

Five years from the publication of the raupatu report, a settlement between Ngāti Awa and the Crown was reached in 2003 and enacted by the government in 2005.

[23] In the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mead was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and education.