Dr Rapata Wiri (Ngati Ruapani, Tuhoe, Te Arawa) is a Maori language expert. He has taught Maori language, culture, history and society in universities in New Zealand and Hawai'i for over twenty-five years. He has also worked as a historian and researcher for iwi on Treaty of Waitangi claims. In 2019, he established an online course for people to learn te reo Maori, www.reoora.com, and this now has over a thousand learners enrolled at certificate and diploma levels.