Miriama Evans (19 February 1944 â 15 August 2018) was a New Zealand civil servant and publisher.
Evans was born in Christchurch in 1944; her father was a member of the NgÃÂti Mutunga iwi (tribe) and her mother a member of NgÃÂi Tahu. She attended Linwood High School where she was one of four MÃÂori students in a roll of more than 1000. In her final year she was head girl of the school.
After finishing high school, she worked as a travel officer at the Government Tourist Bureau but resigned to marry and have children. The family moved to Wellington and Evans studied at Victoria University of Wellington, completing a master's degree in MÃÂori Studies.
Evans began working in government departments, including the Ministry of Women's Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Evans held governance roles in a number of organisations; she was a member of the Waitangi Tribunal, a member of Te Aka Matua MÃÂori Advisory for Victoria University and the national advisor to St John New Zealand on MÃÂori health. She also served in her iwi (tribe)'s educational organisation, Te Runanga o NgÃÂti MutungÃÂ, for 20 years.
Evans retired from the civil service in 2005. She continue to work, lecturing at Victoria University on policy development and its impacts on MÃÂori society.
In 1983 she was one of the Spiral Collective, a group of three women who published Keri Hulme's book The Bone People. The book went on to win the Booker Prize in 1985. Evans was a co-editor of The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry, NgàKupu Tïtohu o Aotearoa, which was published in 1989.
In 2006, Evans and her sister RÃÂnui NgÃÂrimu produced The Art of MÃÂori Weaving, a book based on an exhibition of MÃÂori weaving at PÃÂtaka Museum in Porirua. The book was a finalist in the Montana Book Awards.
In 2016 Evans was awarded the Hunter Fellowship by Victoria University for her commitment to MÃÂori development at the university. After her death, the university established a Miriama Evans Memorial Scholarship to acknowledge her service to NgÃÂti Mutunga and the university.