Āni Wainui

Āni Pātene Gazala Wainui is a New Zealand teacher and Māori language advocate. In 2020 Wainui was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori language education.

Early life and education Wainui was born in Cape Runaway in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to Southland with her husband in 1965, where she was the first itinerant teacher of Māori. Wainui attended a bilingual course in Hamilton and saw a kura kaupapa in action. Support from local kaumatua led to Wainui being donated space at Murihiku Marae and the kura, originally named Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Arowhenua, opened in 1989. Wainui was the school's principal for twenty-eight years until 2017, during which time the roll grew from 35 to 160 pupils.

Wainui is an Archdeacon in the Anglican Church, Te Huiamorangi o Te Waipounamu. Wainui was a finalist in the Te Ururangi Award for Education section of Māori Television's Matariki Awards in 2020.