Miharo Murihiku Trust chairwoman and Polyfest co-founder Pauline Smith has awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in the Pacific, arts and community.

Miharo Murihiku Trust chairwoman and Polyfest founder Pauline Smith has awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in the Pacific, arts and the community.

Ms Smith was a founding member of the first Murihiku Polyfest in 2009 and is also an award-winning author and educator.

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Ms Smith said she, her family, friends and neighbours would be celebrating at home in Riverton today with a “wee glass of bubbly”. 

“I feel so honoured. Very, very honoured. And I just feel it is a celebration for the whole community, particularly the whole Pasifika and Maori community. It is for all of us,” she said.

The first 2009 Polyfest was so popular, the Murihiku Maori and Pasifika Cultural Trust was formed in 2010 to make it an annual event, now reaching an audience of 40,000.

According to the Miharo.org website, the Polyfest event has more than 7500 Pacific, Maori and youth performers, while the trust employs three staff members, has created a Polyfest in Queenstown (2018) and is working from offices in Don St, Invercargill.

The trust also produces other events and activities for the community, including exhibitions, art workshops, and mentoring services.

Ms Smith said the trust is well connected with Pasifika groups throughout New Zealand and able to bring many cultural and performing arts people to Southland to work with youth and the wider community.

“We have a big footprint around arts and culture . . . I am really proud of the work we do in an isolated community. It is working and it brings opportunities for young people,” she said.

Ms Smith said she would be spending some time over the next few days getting to the bottom of who nominated her for the award, as she knew it took a lot of work to complete a nomination.

“I really want to acknowledge the people who nominated me,” she said.

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Ms Smith was born in Mataura and is of Samoan, Tuvaluan, Scottish and Irish descent.

She studied to become a teacher and worked for 14 years as lecturer at the Otago University’s College of Education, specialising in Pacific studies, before returning to Southland to work for the trust.

According to the read-nz.org website, her first book, My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid, was a finalist at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young People in the Esther Glen, Junior Fiction and Best First Book categories. 

It was the winner of the Best First Book for 2018.

Ms Smith is a popular guest speaker in Southland, and has passed on her knowledge about writing and her literary career to school children.

She has also presented at events, including at the Dan Davin Literary Foundation awards ceremony in Invercargill and at the Ignition Children’s Writing Festival in Dunedin, both in 2018.