Edward Ellison

Edward Ellison

Guest writer

Edward Ellison (Ōtākou, Ngāi Tahu) is an Ōtākou farmer and kaumātua who played a key role as a treaty negotiator in Ngāi Tahu’s Treaty claim against the Crown. Since the early 1990s Edward has given Ngāi Tahu a voice on conservation issues with his appointment firstly to the Otago Conservation Board and then on the New Zealand Conservation Authority between 1996 and 2004. He also served on the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust from 2006 to 2011 and has worked closely with southern regional authorities since 1991 as a Regional Management Act advisor and more recently as a commissioner. In the New Year’s honours list in 2015 Edward was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Māori and conservation.